No More Gallifreys
by keita52
Summary: The Eleventh Doctor gets a call from the Illusive Man asking for his help against the Reapers. Having no idea what the crazy man was talking about, he nonetheless decides to investigate. The Reapers are exactly the sort of thing he'd like to stop - but can he work with a soldier like Shepard? (Eleven: between God Complex and Closing Time; F!Shepard: Earthborn/Sole Survivor)
1. Reapers, not Daleks

No More Gallifreys  
A DW/Mass Effect crossover fic  
Eleventh Doctor, in the years between The God Complex and Closing Time (Season 6).  
Female Shepard: Earthborn/Sole Survivor

_Author's Notes: My first attempt at a crossover fic. Will cover the events of ME2 and ME3, with no DLC references (except Zaeed), and will not cover every mission in the two games. FemShep/Garrus and Doctor/River Song (though River can be considered Lady Not-Appearing-in-this-fic), with mild Doctor/Samara. Very much a work in progress, so feedback is welcome!_

* * *

_2185  
__The Illusive Man's Base (Cronos Station)  
__Anadius/Horsehead Nebula_

The Illusive Man nodded to Miranda as she walked in. "Miss Lawson. How is Shepard?"

"Remarkably well," Miranda said. "I think we'll be able to bring her back soon."

"Good. That's partly why I wanted to talk to you," he said, inhaling on his cigarette. "I've been working on the dossiers for Shepard's team, and I came across something … rather interesting. Someone who could be of great help to Cerberus, but who will need to be convinced in the right way."

"Much like you're doing to Shepard?" Miranda asked dryly.

"Precisely." The Illusive Man flicked at the controls next to him and brought up a holographic image of a large rectangular box, painted in blue.

Miranda frowned at the image. "What is that?"

"It's an old-style police call box," the Illusive Man replied. "At least, that's what it looks like. My intelligence suggests that there's more to it. Much more. Beyond even the Reapers, potentially."

"It's just a box," Miranda said, stepping closer to inspect the image.

"If my intelligence is correct, it's actually a highly advanced ship able to be piloted by a single person, and go anywhere instantaneously."

Miranda folded her arms in front of her and stared at her boss. "Are you making fun of me? Is this your idea of a little joke to give me a break from the Lazarus Project?"

"Miranda, I'm deadly serious," he replied. "The rumors - legends, really - say that the man in the box is known as the Doctor. Just the Doctor, no other name. He's an alien who appears human, and has supposedly intervened to save humanity in the past. He has some connection with Earth. Needless to say, he'd be a valuable asset for Cerberus."

"So you want me to find him," Miranda said. "Chase down a legend."

The Illusive Man chuckled. "No, you have enough to do with bringing another legend back from the dead. I just wanted you to be aware of this, in case he shows up."

"Right. I'll be sure to call you if I see a blue … police box," Miranda replied, shifting back and forth. "Is there anything else?"

"Just keep me posted on Shepard."

Miranda nodded. "I will."

* * *

_4135  
__The Ood Sphere  
__Mutter's Spiral/Horsehead Nebula_

The Doctor leaned back against the console of the TARDIS and exhaled. "I can never go anywhere nice," he said. "I always forget how rubbish the weather is on different planets."

He looked around and remembered, again, that he was alone. His decision to leave Amy and Rory on Earth had been the correct one, but he was never quite happy when there was an empty TARDIS. Every time he thought he might find pick someone up from somewhere, the memory of Amy facing the Minotaur held him back.

The period of loneliness would end. It always did. In the meantime, he was stopping at places he might never have visited otherwise. He hated risking crossing his own time stream, though he'd done it before. Things got very … messy.

It had been a whim to visit the Ood Sphere, he'd thought, up until they started talking about a new song, out in the far heavens (whatever that meant to an Ood). Muttering to himself, he found the coordinates that he'd need to visit the spot, and punched them in.

The Doctor felt the familiar whoosh and acceleration of the TARDIS and almost smiled for a moment. Then it was as if the TARDIS had crashed into a wall, stopping abruptly and sending the Doctor flying backwards.

"What was that?" he demanded as he dusted himself off and moved forward to the console. "We're here," he said, examining the screen, "but we're not here. I hate logic puzzles."

Off in the corner, the phone rang.

The Doctor's head swiveled around to look - _glare - _ at the phone. It was being called a lot more often than he'd like for being a supposedly _private_ number. If it was Amy, he'd forgive her. He supposed that went for Rory too.

He pulled the brake and walked over to open the door and answer the phone. "How did you get this number?" he demanded.

"Are you the one they call the Doctor?"

The voice on the other end was an older man's, smooth, with an American accent. The Doctor frowned. "You still haven't answered my question."

"I'll take that as a yes," the man said. "Doctor, the human race is in danger. We need your help."

"I'm hanging up if you don't tell me who you are."

A chuckle. "You can call me the Illusive Man."

"That's not very illusive … man."

"You've surprised me. That doesn't happen very often." A pause, and a brief inhalation on the other end. "What do you know about the Reapers?"

The Doctor froze. A scene played through his mind - Rose outside of a church. A winged creature coming in from the sky. Pete Tyler stepping in front of a car.

"If you've got Reapers, you're already done for," the Doctor said coldly, "and in a few minutes this conversation will have never happened."

"Interesting," the man … the Illusive Man … said. "The part about being already done for, many who know the truth would agree with you. But what do you mean by this conversation will never have happened?"

"I mean if you've got Reapers, you did something so abominably stupid as to cause a temporal paradox, and not even my people can fight them off," the Doctor said.

There was a pause. "I don't think we're talking about the same Reapers, Doctor," the man said. "These Reapers are giant sentient machines bent on exterminating all organic life in the galaxy."

"When did the Daleks start being called Reapers? That's a ridiculous name." The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Look, if you're not going to talk sense, at least tell me something funny instead of something potentially terrifying."

Another long pause. "I see. You have my apologies - I went about this in the wrong way. I will ask only one thing of you: go to Ilium, in the Crescent Nebula, and speak with Dr. Liara T'Soni. I think she will be able to explain the situation much better than I could. I hope you'll help us, Doctor." Then the man hung up.

"Why do people always talk in nonsense?" the Doctor muttered as he closed the door and went back inside the TARDIS. "Where was he calling from-"

He stopped dead. The call had supposedly originated from a space station in the year 2185. The TARDIS was in the location of that station.

"Illusive Man, you are going to illuminate some things for me," the Doctor said, setting the TARDIS to go back to 2185.

Nothing happened.

"Did I forget to carry the one?" the Doctor demanded of the TARDIS.

He got no answer, of course, so he punched in a few more buttons on the console to try and come up with an answer. He looked up at the screen, and for a moment just stood there trying to make sense of what he saw.

There was a rift there.

It was - and was not - like the black hole where the creature calling itself the Beast lived. Related, that was obvious. How, he couldn't have said. The Doctor didn't like the implications of the readings he saw.

"Another parallel universe," he said, still talking to himself. "How did he talk to me from a parallel universe? How did he know about me?"

He walked away from the console and paced in circles. "If it's a trap, I can't see it," he said. "It's a mystery. A complete puzzle. He's talking about something I've never heard of - on a level that I _should_ have heard of, if it was in this universe. But it isn't. But how could he reach me?"

The Doctor continued pacing for a few more minutes until he finally sighed. "There are things that I know have yet to come," he said. "So I must be able to do them. Which means that I am able to return to this universe, somehow. Which means…"

The anxiety was beginning to ebb away, replaced by excitement. "Something new. I never could turn down something new. Geronimo!"


	2. A Meeting of Minds

_2185  
Illium_

Liara T'Soni jumped as the oddest sound started. "Nyxeris!" she called. "Is there an alert of some sort?"

"I have no idea what that sound is," Nyxeris replied as she came in from the other room. "It's nothing I've ever-"

She stopped and stared at the area in front of Liara's desk. An area which was shimmering in and out as if something was decloaking there - that something being -

A blue box?

The box's door swung open and a human poked his head out. "Hello," he said. "I'm looking for Dr. Liara T'Soni. The Illusive Man said I should talk to you."

"By the Goddess!" Liara breathed. "How - how did you do that? What is that?"

"TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. Very long explanation that we have absolutely no time to go into," the human said. "The man who calls himself Illusive was trying to get me to help against the Reapers, whatever those are. He seemed to realize he'd made a hash of it and said I should talk to you. You'd be able to explain it better."

"They attacked the Citadel last year," Liara said. "Or, one of them did. Sovereign. It was behind the attack from the geth."

The human looked around the room, frowning. "Definitely a different universe," he said. "Dr. T'Soni. I need you to pretend, for a minute, that I am an ignorant child. I know nothing of the world or your place in it - or even what your species is called. I know nothing about Sovereign, or the - geth? I need you to start from the beginning."

"Do you work for Cerberus?" Liara asked, trying to figure out the trick.

"I don't work for anyone except myself," the human said. "Well. Sometimes UNIT, when I'm feeling nice."

Liara sat back down at her desk. "Leave us, Nyxeris."

"Dr. T'Soni…"

"Leave us," she repeated. The younger asari reluctantly left the room and went back to her desk.

"If that is what you truly want, there is an easy way to do it," Liara said. "Easy for you, that is. I can … open my mind, to yours, and allow you to know what I know. I shouldn't be offering this. It's … intense, for me, and leaves me quite vulnerable. There is no one on this planet I trust to oversee this." She took a deep breath. "But you've arrived here in a manner I can't even begin to fathom, offering your help against the Reapers. It is … an acceptable risk."

The human walked over and knelt in front of Liara, looking up at her face inquisitively. "Dr. T'Soni. Liara. I promise you have nothing to fear from me. I understand what you are describing, and I may even be able to make it easier for you. My species has the ability to do something similar."

"Your species?" Liara asked, confused. "You're not human?"

"I only look human," he replied. "I am…. well. It might be easier to explain in a few minutes."

Liara nodded and took a deep breath, steadying herself. She rose from behind the desk and walked over to him, taking both his hands in hers and meeting his gaze. "Relax," she said, "and embrace eternity!"

* * *

_He (she) was encased inside a bubble, terrified, desperate, tired and hungry and despairing. He (she) was barely aware of the gunfire outside, only registering it as _please let it not be the geth, please, I don't want to die.

Dr. T'Soni, I presume.

_Human. Female. N7 armor. _I remember what that means, I think.

_He (she) was running through the Citadel, through the dying embers and the twisted metal, past the bodies - human. Asari. Turian. Salarian. There. Anderson. Lifting the metal away. Revealing a krogan. Then a quarian. Then… finally… a human walked forward._

Shepard. She did it. She stopped Sovereign.

_He (she) was on the Normandy, flames erupting around her, running for the escape pods. _Where is everyone? Wrex? Tali? Kaidan? _Shepard?_

_Joker. Tear streaks cutting through the grime. _I lost her.

_Shepard's body on a slab. Confirmation that he (she) never wanted. He (she) doesn't know what the Collectors want with Shepard, but the answer can't be anything good. He (she) doesn't trust Cerberus, but they have the resources. The ability. Shepard can live again._

I can't let her go. I can't.

_He (she) looks up at the hologram. The man inhales on his cigarette. _Do we have a deal?

Take her. Bring her back.

* * *

_She (he) was looking down on a planet silhouetted in red and orange, with brown lakes and snow-capped mountains. A planet covered in cities encased in bubbles - cities of tall, thin towers and spires. Majestic cities that perched on the edge of the Time Vortex. _

Gallifrey. Home of the Time Lords. The Shining World of the Seven Systems. _My_ home.

_She (he) saw the red and orange skies go from empty to filled in an instant, peace broken by hundreds - thousands - of invaders. Invaders filled with hatred for anything not their own kind. Invaders who would not rest until everything on that planet was dead._

After they took Gallifrey, they were going to take the rest of the universe. I had to stop them.

_She (he) saw the red and orange skies burning, the towers of those majestic cities falling. Gallifrey was burning. _

In fighting the Daleks, my people were becoming … ruthless. Monstrous. The line between us and them was growing thinner every day. I had no choice. I had to end it.

* * *

Where there was one, there were now two.

The Doctor opened his eyes and remembered that he was a Time Lord, not an asari.

He looked up at Liara and saw her for who she really was, this time. A young member of an ancient race. Hardened by the past two years, by the decisions she'd had to make.

"Archaeologist," he said. "I will refrain from pointing and laughing."

"Time traveler," she said. "You could help us answer so many questions."

"Yes, but that would be cheating," the Doctor said. "Which I would never do."

Liara folded her arms. "You cheat all the time."

"Well. Sometimes."

Liara shook her head and then raised a hand to her temple. "It … didn't hurt. As much as it did before."

"With Shepard," the Doctor replied.

"Yes. With Shepard."

The Doctor took a step back and looked around the room again, seeing everything in a different light. Putting things in the context that they'd lacked before. "So, you're a biotic," he said. "I think I'd like a demonstration."

Liara smiled. "You just love seeing impossible things." She lifted a blue arm, which was suddenly encased in the bright blue glow he now recognized as indicative of biotic ability. The Doctor was lifted off the ground, slowly, and he felt his face crack into a smile.

"Telekinesis. Marvelous!"

"What you have is no less marvelous," Liara replied, easing him back to the ground, then gesturing to the TARDIS. "The ability to go anywhere in time and space - I've never heard of anything like that. And there's more? No. I'm sorry. There _were_ more."

"In the universe I come from," the Doctor said. "I still don't know how I got here."

"Does it matter?" Liara asked.

"It might." The Doctor began pacing. "If I can get here, there's a chance that the Reapers could get there. And my universe is less - militaristic - than yours. Without your knowledge, they would be completely unprepared to fight the Reapers. Which means that you have the best chance of stopping them." He stopped and looked out over the balcony in Liara's office, taking in the sight for a minute. "You've never heard of me, and you've made it a habit of chasing down the ridiculous, especially in the last two years. So how did the Illusive Man know about me?"

"I see," Liara said. "You're right that it does matter. But I'm not sure that it's the best thing for you to focus on. Rather, I should focus on it." She looked at her terminals. "Among other things."

"I have to stop the Reapers," the Doctor said. "The Illusive Man was right about that. I can't sit by idly and let machines destroy the human race. I've never done so before. I've pushed the Daleks back many times before. I know their weaknesses, their history. I need to know everything there is about the Reapers."

"Then you should join Shepard," Liara said.

The Doctor stopped pacing and looked at her. "Your friend - as honorable a person as she is - is still a soldier. Someone who carries a gun and has been known to shoot whoever gets in her way. I _hate_ guns. I protect the innocent."

"Shepard protects the innocent as well."

"And she's working with a pro-human organization," the Doctor said. "Humanity at all costs. I've broken organizations like that in the past."

"I don't think that Shepard would mind if you broke Cerberus. Not if she's still the Shepard I remember."

"You've quite a bit of faith in that." The mention of faith stung, for just a moment, and he let a realization sink in: Shepard was like him. Followed by people convinced that she could do anything, fix any problem. Liara hadn't seen Shepard in two years, and she believed.

Did Amy still believe?

"I've touched her mind, as I've touched yours," Liara said. "I think you know what kind of insight that gives you into a person."

"Yes." The Doctor sighed. "I suppose you're right."

"Any more objections I can answer for you?"

"Possibly. Haven't thought of them yet. I'll tell you if I do."

Liara inclined her head at this and went back to sit at her desk. A console chimed, and she reached over to press a button. "Yes, Nyxeris?"

"Dr. T'Soni, I've received a message from Nos Astra control. The Normandy has requested permission to dock."


	3. Shepard

_2185  
Illium_

Liara resisted the urge to stand up and pace as she waited for Careena to call back. She wished she had access to the Nos Astra security feeds, but since becoming an information broker she'd learned there were some lines that it was better not to cross. Her information said that Shepard was alive, but she wouldn't really believe it until she saw Shepard's face herself.

Her console beeped. She put it on speaker so that the Doctor could hear.

"Careena. Thank you for returning my call."

It was part of the game she played with the asari administration of Illium, pretending that they were doing favors for each other, instead of trafficking in Illium's official currency.

"Liara," the concierge said. "Commander Shepard was accompanied by a turian and a quarian. The turian was carrying a sniper rifle, and the right side of his face was scarred."

"Garrus and Tali," Liara said, letting out a long breath. "Thank you, Careena. That will be all."

"I seem to recognize those names," the Doctor said.

"They were with us on the first Normandy," Liara said with a nod. "Which means they can be trusted, and Shepard can trust them. The quarians have no love for Cerberus right now, and Garrus … isn't particularly fond of organizations in general."

The Doctor rubbed his forehead. "I seem to recall that turians are a rather hierarchical and regimented species."

"Garrus claims he isn't a very good turian," Liara replied.

The Doctor's mouth quirked in a smile. "I've been accused of being a bad Time Lord. I think I may like this Garrus."

"It's quite the uneven exchange we had," Liara said. "You learned a lot from me, but I only got a little from you."

"Well. That's probably for the best, Liara." He wasn't going to say anything more than that, she knew. She wondered if she'd continue to get these little flashes of insight from his behavior - and if he was receiving the same sort of insights from her.

Liara tapped another button. "Nyxeris. As soon as Commander Shepard arrives, send her in."

"Yes, Liara."

"You don't think she'll come straight here to see her old friend?" the Doctor asked.

"It's Shepard. Things tend to happen to her on the way to other things."

* * *

The door to Liara's office opened, and a human in armor walked in, flanked by a bird-like alien and a person in a suit.

A moment later, the Doctor's brain caught up with the new information Liara had given him. _Andrea Shepard, Council Spectre_ walked in, flanked by _Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec officer_ and _Tali'Zorah nar Rayya vas Neema, quarian engineer._

"Shepard! Nyxeris, hold my calls," Liara said, rising from behind her desk and walking over to embrace the human.

The Doctor took a minute to study Shepard and her … _companions_. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to view them with an unbiased eye, but it was worth trying.

It was easy to tell that Shepard had been through a lot. She carried herself like a woman who expected a fight any moment and was willing to meet the challenge straight on. His gaze passed to Tali'Zorah and he reluctantly acknowledged he wouldn't get anything there - there were no facial expressions to read. Body language wouldn't be enough, and he wasn't sure how much emotion he'd get from her voice.

Garrus Vakarian, however, was easy to pin down. Even in a room where they had been greeted enthusiastically by an old friend, he was looking around for possible signs of trouble, going back and forth between the surroundings and Shepard. The scarring that Careena had mentioned looked fairly recent. His mandibles flared out when he saw the TARDIS, and he walked over to inspect it. The Doctor tensed, watching, but Garrus simply walked around it, then returned to Shepard's side. It seemed as though he had written it off as an odd office decoration. It spoke volumes about what the turian had seen since joining Shepard two years ago.

"My sources said you were alive, but I never believed … It's very good to see you," Liara said, letting go of Shepard.

"You have sources now?" Shepard asked, sounding amused.

"A few. Sources, contacts, even a little hired muscle. I've been working as an information broker."

"Is this one of your contacts?" Garrus asked, gesturing to the Doctor. His voice was slightly rumbled and echoed, an interesting mix that the Doctor hadn't heard often.

Liara turned to look at Garrus. "He's a … colleague. This is-"

"Doctor John Smith," the Doctor said, putting on his brightest smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Liara's told me so much about you."

Shepard exchanged a quick glance with the other two, clearly skeptical of the stranger, but willing to accept him for now.

"Being an information broker has paid the bills since you … well, for the past two years," Liara said. "And now you're back, gunning for the Collectors with Cerberus." She took a seat behind her desk, and Shepard took the seat in front of it.

"If you know that, then you know that I could use your help," Shepard said.

"I can't, Shepard," Liara said firmly. "I'm sorry, I have commitments here. Things I need to take care of." She looked over at the Doctor. "But my colleague might be able to come with you."

"What's his area of expertise?" Shepard asked, turning her gaze on the Doctor, assessing him. "Is he a biotic? Hacker?" She looked as though she wanted to add something like _clearly not a soldier_.

"I'm clever," the Doctor replied. "I don't possess biotic skills like Liara does, but I can solve any problem, and I've been known to hack a computer or two."

"I'm not going to turn away help," Shepard said, "but you should realize that the stakes are very high. There's a chance none of us are coming back from this. You'll have to be able to hold your own in a fight."

"That's not really where he could help you," Liara said.

Shepard shrugged. "Well, if you vouch for him, that's good enough," she said. "I'd trust your word before the Illusive Man's."

"Not a bad thing to have more non-Cerberus folk on board," Garrus agreed.

"We can discuss it later," Shepard said, nodding to the Doctor before turning back to Liara. "You said you had things to take care of. What kind of things? Are you in trouble?"

"No, no trouble," Liara said. "But it's been a long two years. I had things to do while you were gone. I have debts to repay." She paused. "Listen, if you want to help, I need someone with hacking expertise, someone I can trust. If you could disable security at key points around Ilium, you could get me information I need. That would help me a great deal."

"What's this all about, Liara? Can't you just talk to me?" Shepard asked.

"Don't you think I want to, Shepard?" Liara asked. "This isn't because I don't trust you. This is Illium. Anything I say is probably being recorded."

"Hacking a terminal is pretty easy. Why do you need me?" Shepard asked.

"Couldn't your … colleague do it?" Tali asked.

"He'd be spotted," Liara said. "Discovered too easily. You … know how to hide. Be cautious. And, as I said, I trust you."

Shepard smirked at that. "Funny. People usually think that when I show up, it means they should start running because something's about to explode."

"Hacking the security node won't get you the data. It just creates a minor glitch in the system," Liara continued. "You'll have a short time to find a local server left vulnerable by that glitch and upload the data to my system. I'm leaving my own system vulnerable so that the data can be imported during that short time."

"If it will help you, I'll take care of it," Shepard said.

Liara nodded. "Thank you, Shepard. This may help me pay a great debt."

"On another subject, there's an asari named Samara here on Illium," Shepard said. "Do you know where I could find her?"

"Samara … Yes. She arrived recently and registered with Tracking Officer Dara," Liara replied. "You can find Dara at the transportation hub."

"Why would Samara have to register with a tracking official? Is she a criminal?" Shepard asked.

"No, in fact she's quite the opposite," Liara said. "Samara is a justicar, one of an ancient sect of asari warriors. Dara can tell you more."

Shepard nodded. "I'm also looking for Thane Krios. He's supposed to be here on Illium."

"The assassin," Liara said, nodding. "Yes. He arrived here a few days ago. My sources tell me he may be targeting a corporate executive, Nassana Dantius. He contacted a woman named Seryna. Seryna has an office in the cargo transfer levels. Perhaps she can tell you where Krios is."

"That was all just off the top of your head?"

"I'm a very good information broker, Shepard," Liara replied, smiling proudly. "The world of intrigue isn't that different from a dig site. Except that the dead bodies still smell."

"Hah! I wish more archaeologists were like you," the Doctor said.

"Thanks for the help," Shepard replied, rising from her chair.

"Of course. May I ask what you plan to do first? It sounds like you've got much to accomplish on Illium," Liara said.

Shepard looked over at Garrus and Tali. "Well, I think we can take care of your little hacking request first. After that, I think I'll try and find Samara."

"Come back to my office when you're done with the hacking," Liara said.

Shepard nodded. "Of course. Shouldn't take too long. I'll talk to you later, Liara."

When they had left, the Doctor took the seat that Shepard had vacated. "You have a plan," he said, making it a statement and not a question.

"You heard Shepard. She'll take all the help she can get," Liara said. "It's clear to me that you're actually the tougher customer. You need to see that it's worthwhile working with Shepard. I'm going to ask her to let you come when she goes to find Samara."

"One of your people," the Doctor said. "A … justicar. Is that some sort of space police? No, wait, let me see if I can get it." He shut his eyes and concentrated. "Justicars … give up everything and live by the Code. The Justicar Code. They use to Code to determine what's right and what's wrong, and act on that. And… that means she's justified in killing anyone who doesn't follow the Code. Oh. Bit harsh, isn't that?"

"Many would agree with you," Liara said.

"So why do you want me to go with Shepard for that?"

"Because I think - I hope - that it will give you a chance to see Shepard operate without necessarily having to shoot first," Liara said. "Based on what I have heard about Samara's reasons for being here." She hesitated. "You're really… nine hundred years old?"

"Nine hundred and sixty," the Doctor said. "Give or take fifty years."

"Samara is approximately that age."

"Ahh," the Doctor said, looking thoughtful.

"I said that I only got a little from you, compared to what you got from me," Liara said, rising to walk around the desk again. "I think it would be … helpful … for you to speak to someone who has had as long a life as you. I am only one hundred and eight, after all."

"I'm starting to think you got more from me than you're letting on, Liara T'Soni," the Doctor said. "I'm not sure whether I like it or not."


	4. Samara

_2185  
Illium_

It didn't take long before Shepard returned, having hacked the terminals and gotten the information that Liara needed. Shepard agreed to let the Doctor tag along as they attempted to find Samara, though she didn't bother to hide how irregular she found the whole situation.

Their first stop was the transportation hub, where Officer Dara elaborated on what they could expect when they found Samara. The Doctor listened and didn't interject at any point, which was unusual for him. Her description of Samara was more elaborate - and troublesome - than Liara's had been. Did _everyone_ in this universe walk around with a gun and start shooting whenever someone looked at them wrong? At least Samara had reasons for it, and the Doctor had to admit that he wasn't terribly fond of corruption and bribery either. He pondered Dara's words during the cab ride over to the commercial spaceport. He had to remember that this wasn't his universe, and there had been no Doctor to run around solving things peacefully.

Madame Kovarian's words echoed in his mind briefly. _"This endless, bitter war…"_

They exited the cab just as an asari walked away from a short, round alien in a breather suit similar to Tail's. The information the Doctor needed came a moment later - it was a volus, guarded by a pair of turians.

"What do you want?" the volus demanded as Shepard walked over. "I've already got mercs wanting to kill me like they did my partner! I don't need any more trouble. As if that weren't enough…"

_Everyone_ was complaining about the asari justicar. The Doctor wondered if anyone would offer to pay Shepard just to get her off-planet.

The volus told the story of his murdered business partner and the mercenary gang who had probably (definitely) done it. From the looks that Garrus and Tali exchanged (it must have been two-way, even though the Doctor still couldn't read the quarian's expressions) they didn't buy his story of "innocent merchants" for a second.

They found the investigating officer, Detective Anaya, easily enough. She was clearly stressed over the justicar situation, and perked up when Shepard mentioned that she was hoping to recruit Samara for her mission. "Justicars usually work alone, but they are drawn to impossible causes," she said.

"We've got that covered," Garrus noted.

"You're awfully anxious to get Samara out of your district," Shepard asked, which seemed to be a rather obvious statement.

"My bosses want me to detain her," Anaya explained. "They're worried she'll cause some kind of cross-species incident. But her Justicar Code won't let her be taken into custody. If I try it, she'll have to kill me."

The Doctor thought, irrelevantly, that he was glad River didn't follow this Justicar Code. Her body count would be a lot higher.

"I have no intention of dying, so if you lure her away with some big noble cause before I have to carry out my orders, I'm thrilled to help you," Anaya said dryly.

Shepard looked annoyed. "Your superiors are sending you to certain death for no good reason. You have a right to disobey."

"We can disobey suicidal orders?" Garrus asked, sounding incredulous. "Why wasn't I told?"

"That's about twice a day," Tali added.

"Most of the time, I'm not being stupid about it," Shepard insisted. "I can't say the same for Anaya's superiors."

"I'm a cop, and I know my duty," Anaya said. "I've been ordered to detain her and I will - unless I can get her to leave my district first."

"How do I get to the crime scene?" Shepard asked.

"It's around the corner - go outside, take a left. Look for the police line. I'll send word to let you in." Anaya paused. "Be careful - the local Eclipse mercs have been all over those back alleys lately."

"What do I need to know about these mercenaries?"

"Eclipse mercs are professional killers," Anaya said. "They sell red sand, trade illegal weapons tech, and smuggle criminals off-world. They control some back alleys around here. I haven't been able to find their nest yet, though."

Shepard looked around for a minute, then apparently decided to satisfy her curiosity. "What can you tell me about justicars?"

Anaya thought for a minute. "They're a kind of … humans might call them 'warrior monks'. They live by a complex code that compels them to punish the wicked and protect the pure. They've been a part of asari culture for millennia. I read adventure stories about justicars when I was a child."

"What do you think of Samara herself?" It appeared as though Shepard was trying to get a feel for this person that she wanted to recruit. The Doctor was starting to be glad that Liara had insisted he accompany Shepard. Liara's perception of Shepard bordered on hero-worship, and the interaction with Detective Anaya was shading the Doctor's perspective into 'a real person'. Perhaps it was arrogant of him to assume that the only person who could have a larger-than-life presence was himself.

He wondered what Amy or River would have said to that.

"She's been a justicar longer than three of your life spans," Anaya said. "Whoever she was before she swore that oath, that person is dead." The Doctor could _definitely_ relate to that.

Shepard stood. "I have to go," she said.

Anaya acknowledged this with a nod of her head. "Good luck."

The group left the detective's office and headed over towards the crime scene. Two officers on duty acknowledged Shepard approaching and let her pass through the virtual police tape. Shepard paused to read something on a tablet and pressed a button. "Upload complete," a synthetic voice said. Neither Garrus nor Tali commented on this, so the Doctor decided it was something that was considered "regular".

As they rounded the corner, Shepard brought out a shotgun and pressed a button on the side, bringing up a holographic overlay of a red bullet. Garrus and Tali followed suit - Tali was also carrying a shotgun, and Garrus had the sniper rifle that Careena had mentioned earlier. They picked up the pace, and the Doctor lagged behind.

Shepard paused as she heard someone talking in the distance. " … Alpha squad went after that justicar 20 minutes ago, and they've gone dark."

"Mercs," Garrus said.

Shepard rounded the corner and sprinted behind a crate as one of the mercenaries yelled "A human. Open fire!"

At least, the Doctor thought, Shepard hadn't been the instigator. He stayed behind the corner, occasionally peeking his head out to see the progress of the fight. He saw Shepard's arm glow bright blue, setting off a series of explosions that headed from Shepard towards the enemies. The explosions sent the asari flying off to one side - some got back on their feet afterwards, and some didn't. Garrus lifted his left arm, which glowed bright orange for a moment and sent a spark towards one of the robots that was moving forward, slowly. The robot halted, fizzled, and then fell over. Tali made the same motion with her left arm, and one of the other robots paused, then turned around and started firing on its former allies.

The fight was over quickly. Shepard, Garrus and Tali had been outnumbered, but that hadn't seemed to daunt them in the least.

"Liara didn't mention you had biotic abilities," the Doctor commented as he came out from behind the corner.

"I didn't, before Cerberus rebuilt me," Shepard said dryly. "Guess the Illusive Man wanted to get his money's worth. Had to learn a whole new fighting style."

Garrus laughed. "C'mon, Shepard. You can't tell me you didn't enjoy the challenge."

"Well. A little," Shepard said, grinning. "Let's keep moving. Samara has to be here somewhere."

At the end of the hallway where the fire fight had taken place was another cordoned-off area. Shepard passed through the tape and the door opened for her, the others following.

The first thing the Doctor saw was a uniformed mercenary flying across the room, bouncing off the wall and landing on the floor next to them.

"Those were my best troops," a voice said from up ahead, in what looked to be some kind of office.

An asari strode forward in a tight-fitting red outfit trimmed with gold. "Tell me what I need to know, and I will be gone from here," she said in a calm, serene voice. Her body was outlined with the blue biotic glow. Samara, most likely. "Where did you send her?"

"You think I'd betray her? She would hurt me in ways you can't imagine," the mercenary said, coming out from cover, her gun trained on Samara. The two asari were now circling each other warily, like a pair of cats.

"The name of the ship. Your life hangs on the answer, Lieutenant."

"You can kill me, but one of us will take you down, Justicar." The other asari's skin was a darker blue, almost purple. Each asari had different facial markings, the Doctor realized (_remembered_).

Samara clenched her fist, then threw out her right arm, the biotic glow intensifying. The mercenary was lifted off the ground as Samara stared at her, expression implacable. Samara whipped her arm back and the mercenary flew across the room, crashing through a window and landing hard on the ground.

Samara ran forward and jumped off the landing, the blue light intensifying and slowing her descent so that she landed gracefully on her feet. The mercenary had not yet gotten to her feet as Samara approached her, and she backed herself towards the wall. Samara put one booted foot on the mercenary's neck.

"What was the name of the ship she left on?" Samara asked.

"Go to hell," the mercenary spat out angrily.

Samara's expression didn't change. "Find peace in the embrace of the goddess," she said, and twisted her foot to snap the mercenary's neck.

In that instant, she reminded the Doctor of River Song.

* * *

Shepard strode forward after the justicar killed the mercenary. Her biotic abilities were impressive, even for an asari. She could stand to have another pure biotic on her team, and Samara's brand of crazy was more in line with what Shepard was comfortable with than Jack's. She wasn't sure _anyone_ would be comfortable with Jack's brand of crazy.

"My name is Samara, a servant of the Justicar Code," the asari said, walking towards them. "My quarrel is with these Eclipse sisters, but I see four-" she paused, apparently re-assessing the new addition to Shepard's party "three well armed-people before me."

_She got that right_, Shepard thought. The strange human had, as promised, stayed out of the way during the fight. She still didn't know what to make of him, except that Liara seemed to want her to take him on as a party member. Something was off, but Shepard didn't know what. She hoped she'd get the chance to figure that out later.

"Are we friend? Or foe?" Samara asked.

"That merc was wounded and helpless," Shepard said. "Do you just kill anyone who won't help you?"

"If my cause is important enough, yes. Are you different?"

Shepard's tone grew steely as she replied. "I've killed enemies, but always with good reason."

"I answer to a code that is clearly defined. If my actions are true to that code, I am just. If they are not, I am unjust." Samara's tone was the same slow, even cadence that she'd had during the fight with the Eclipse mercenary. "I don't pretend it was a simple matter, or that it seems right to everyone. But I sleep well at night, and that is more than most can say. How may I be of service to you?"

"I'm going up against suicidal odds, and I need the best - that's you," Shepard said.

"I sense the truth in what you say, and it humbles me," Samara said with a nod of her head. "But I seek an incredibly dangerous fugitive." She turned to the side and started walking back towards the dead mercenary. "I cornered her here, but the Eclipse sisters smuggled her off-world. I must find the name of the ship she left on before the trail goes cold."

"I wish you were willing to go with the human, Justicar," Detective Anaya said from behind them. Shepard cursed herself for not having heard the approach. "I've been ordered to take you into custody if you won't leave."

"You risk a great deal by following your orders, Detective," Samara said, turning back to face the detective. "Fortunately, I will not have to resist. My code obligates me to cooperate with you for one day. After that, I must return to my investigation."

"I won't be able to release you that soon," Anaya said, her tone carrying a warning.

Samara's voice didn't change. "You won't be able to stop me."

"There must be some way we can all get what we need," Shepard said. She understood Anaya's position, but by now it was obvious that a lot of good cops would die - for no reason - if Samara was detained for longer than a day.

"I see a way. While I am in custody, you find the name of that ship," Samara said. "Do that, and I will join you. Then the Code will be satisfied."

"A moment ago, you refused to give up your investigation. But now you'll swear to follow me?" Shepard asked, trying to get a feel for the changing situation.

"If I stay, I will be compelled to kill many innocents to escape incarceration," Samara said, confirming Shepard's thoughts.

"Like me," Detective Anaya said dryly.

"I may be killed - and my quarry would be free to continue murdering. If I come with you and survive your mission, I can resume my investigation." That was a pretty big if, in Shepard's mind, but she could work with it.

"To do that, I need the ship's name to track her to her next hiding place," Samara continued. "It is a simple choice."

"Do you have any leads?" Shepard asked.

"The volus merchant, Pitne For, is tied to this. Eclipse mercs are preparing to kill him," Samara said, walking past Shepard towards the exit. "Get the truth out of him. He may know a way into the Eclipse base."

Detective Anaya walked to Samara's side. "Well, I've got to get back to my station. And, I guess I've got to take you with me."

"And me," the Doctor said. All eyes turned to look at him. "Well, you don't have to take me, but I'd like to come along. Chat with Justicar Samara for a bit. I'd prefer to avoid the shooting that seems to be coming when Shepard assaults the base full of mercenaries."

Shepard felt relieved at that. She really didn't need a non-combatant trailing her for this.

"I guess you can stay with Samara," Detective Anaya said. "I'll have to babysit her anyway."

Samara looked over the Doctor, then Shepard. She nodded. "Thank you, Shepard." She peeled off and started heading back the way they'd come, Doctor Smith and Detective Anaya following.

"What the hell are we going to do with him?" Garrus asked.

"I don't know," Shepard said. "Maybe Samara will have some ideas after spending time with him."

"Did you see that blue box in Liara's office?" Tali asked.

Shepard and Garrus looked at her. "It's just a box," Garrus said. "Isn't it?"

Tali shook her head and brought up her omni-tool. "I had my omni-tool doing passive readings. There's something really weird about the box. It's giving off some kind of weird energy."

"Dark energy?" Shepard asked, remembering Tali's mission on Haestrom.

"Maybe. In some ways, dark energy is a catch-all term for 'energy we don't understand', so in that sense, yes, it is dark energy. On the other hand, the readings are different from Haestrom, so … no."

"Think it can help against the Collectors?"

Tali shrugged. "I'd have to take more readings to be sure."

Shepard nodded. "We'll do that when this is over. Hopefully finding that ship for Samara won't take too long."


	5. First-Name Basis

_Author's Note: I am overwhelmed by the response this has gotten so far. Thank you for showing interest in my crazy idea! I hope to keep updating often._

* * *

_2185  
Illium_

"I'd like to talk privately with Samara," the Doctor said when they got back to the police station. "Could I do that, Detective Anaya?"

Anaya looked over at Samara, who had taken a seat on a nearby ledge and folded her knees up to her chest. "There's an interrogation room nearby," the younger asari said. "I promise not to lock you in."

"That'll do," the Doctor said. "Assuming, of course, that Samara is amenable to a private conversation."

Samara hopped down from the ledge. "Yes, of course," she said. "If I am going to be working with you, it would be good to get to know you better."

"This way," Anaya said, leading them into a small room and then leaving them alone.

Samara took up the same position she'd had outside, sitting on the table, knees pulled to her chest. It wasn't a sign of fear or discomfort, the Doctor could tell. She was still completely at ease. Nerves of steel, that one.

"I did not catch your name," she said.

"Just call me the Doctor," he replied.

"Should I be telling you to call me the Justicar, then?" Samara asked, her voice taking on a hint of amusement. It was the most emotion she'd displayed yet.

"If you like," he said. "But I'm fine with just calling you Samara, since you seem to prefer that."

Samara inclined her head in acknowledgment.

"So," he said, starting to pace around the room. "Tell me more about justicars."

"We are individuals who have forsworn family, children, and worldly possessions apart from some weapons and armor. We travel asari space righting wrongs, as defined by the ancient code we have each memorized."

"From what I understand, Illium is dominated by asari, but is not actually considered asari space."

"My quarry fled to this place," Samara said. "I am sworn to hunt her down, and I will follow anywhere she goes. It is rare for a justicar to leave asari space, but I must follow my oath. If I suffer for it, I will accept that."

"Hm. Your Justicar Code is very strict," the Doctor commented, continuing to pace.

"It may seem so to you, but this is my oath. The expedient path may be fast and simple; that does not make it the right path."

"That, I can agree with," the Doctor said, pointing a finger at her. "Although I have been known to make hasty decisions when necessary. To save worlds."

"Are you in the business of saving worlds, then?" Samara asked. "I had heard the name Shepard before. I doubt there are many who haven't."

"Yes, saved the Citadel, stopped the geth invasion, then disappeared for two years," the Doctor said. "Everyone in the universe knows Shepard."

"Are you jealous of Shepard?" Samara asked, tilting her head to the side.

"What, me? No. Never." The Doctor paused. "Well, maybe a little. I'm used to being the one everyone knows by name."

"Just 'the Doctor'," Samara said.

"Yes."

"I've never heard of you."

The Doctor bit back the urge to tell the whole truth. Let it all spill out. But he was there to find Shepard, and so Shepard needed to hear the truth first.

"Not important right now," he said, after a long moment of silence. "I'll explain later. I'm here, as in here talking to you, because Liara T'Soni thought it might do me some good."

"I know her," Samara said. "The daughter of the traitor Benezia. She is here on Illium. She spoke with you?"

"She's the one person in this universe that I trust," the Doctor said.

Samara blinked. "Interesting," she said, but didn't elaborate. "Is that why you are joining Shepard?"

"In a way," the Doctor replied after considering it for a minute. "Generally speaking, this is the sort of thing I get involved in. But it was Liara who convinced me that Shepard was worth helping."

"Why did you hesitate?" Samara asked.

"I don't like guns," the Doctor said flatly. "I hate the mindset that guns give people. It makes it easy to solve problems in the wrong way. Causes senseless violence, destruction, pain and sorrow. There's enough of that in the universe without an idiot with a gun adding to it."

"That may be true," Samara said, "but out here in the Traverse, lawlessness reigns, and not carrying a gun simply makes it easier for the mercenaries to loot your corpse. I think that if you are to help Shepard… you must get used to guns."

"I'll never get used to guns," the Doctor said. "But … maybe … I can put up with random acts of violence. For a time."

* * *

Shepard entered the police station with Garrus and Tali, and walked over to Detective Anaya. The asari rose to greet her. "They're in one of the interrogation rooms," she said, walking to the back. A door opened in front of her, and Samara and Doctor Smith exited.

"I've got the name of the ship," Shepard said to Samara. "Your fugitive left here two days ago on the AML Demeter."

"Shepard, you impress me. You fulfilled your part of the bargain, and I will fulfill mine," Samara said with a nod. "I am ready to leave immediately, if that will satisfy your superiors, Detective?"

"You're free to go, Justicar. It has been an honor having you in my station." Detective Anaya paused. "And it's nice you didn't kill me, too."

"The Normandy is docked near the main trading floor," Shepard said. "I'll see you aboard."

Samara brought her gaze up to rest on Shepard's face. "I must be sworn to your service, so that I am never forced to choose between your orders and the Code."

Shepard had no idea what that meant, exactly, but she nodded in acceptance of this caveat.

Samara concentrated for a minute, and then her eyes opened wide and turned a bright blue, almost white. Channeling biotic energy? She knelt and bent her head.

Detective Anaya stood, seeming fascinated by what she was seeing. Doctor Smith also seemed fascinated, his eyes wide as he watched Samara.

"By the Code, I will serve you, Shepard. Your choices are my choices, your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code." Biotic blue energy surrounded her, brighter than it had been in the warehouse where she'd killed the Eclipse mercenaries.

Samara stood, her eyes flashing to that blue-white again before returning to normal, as the biotic glow faded.

"I never thought I'd see a justicar swear an oath like that," Detective Anaya said wonderingly.

"If you make me do anything extremely dishonorable, I may need to kill you when I am released from my oath," Samara added.

_Justicars are weird._ Shepard was awed by the level of trust Samara was giving her, and she felt as though it must show on her face. "I can see that this is a very important act, Samara. Thank you."

Samara nodded. "Truly, the life of a justicar can get lonely. I admit, I am looking forward to serving with a company of honorable heroes. Shall we return to your ship?"

"I need to speak to the detective," Shepard said.

Detective Anaya had returned to her seat and looked up at Shepard. "Thanks for getting Samara out of my district. I can tell my granddaughters about meeting a justicar. And you've just upped my chances of living long enough to have grandkids."

Shepard reached for the notepad she'd picked up earlier. "I have proof that Eclipse killed the volus merchant." She placed it on Anaya's desk.

"Let's see what you've got there," Anaya said, picking it up and looking at the contents. "Interesting, but I can't verify it. It would be inadmissible."

"I vouch for Shepard and any evidence she brings forward," Samara said, watching the proceedings.

Anaya thought for a minute. "I accept the judgment of the justicar."

"Just like that?" Doctor Smith asked. "One word from Samara and you change your mind?"

"Asari run this planet," Anaya replied, "and no asari doubts a justicar and lives to tell the tale." She nodded to Shepard. "Thanks, Shepard. I wasn't sure about trusting a stranger - and a human, at that. But you came through. It's a shame this Elnora escaped, but I'll get her. At least you've put her on the run."

Shepard winced, cursing herself for letting Elnora go again. She should have paid more attention to what Pitne For had told her about Eclipse - _every one of them kills someone to earn their uniform_. And Elnora had been in uniform.

"Okay, enough with all the congratulations. I've still got a spiraling crime rate."

Shepard wasn't done yet. "I have proof that Pitne For smuggled in red sand and illegal weapons tech." She was glad she could nail that bastard, at least.

"I'll send in some officers to arrest him and his cohorts," Anaya said. "This is a big help, Shepard. I can't do much to thank you, but we do have a small discretionary bounty fund. Take this."

Shepard nodded and accepted the funds. "Shall we go, Samara?" She paused. "Doctor Smith?"

"I am ready, Shepard," Samara said.

"I've got something in Liara's office," Doctor Smith said.

"It's mostly on the way back to the Normandy," Shepard said, considering. "Samara, we'll meet you at the Normandy."

"Of course, Shepard."

* * *

"So, Doctor Smith," Tali said as they walked back, "do you know anything about that blue box in Liara's office?"

"It's mine, actually," he said casually.

"Yours?" Shepard said. "So what is it? Tali said it was giving off dark energy."

"Or something like dark energy," Tali added.

"It's my ship," Doctor Smith replied.

"Your _what?_" human, turian, and quarian voices asked in unison.

"How can that be a ship?" Tali said. "There's no engine. No life support. It's not big enough for a crew."

"The TARDIS doesn't need a crew. Just me."

"The _what?_ That's the name of your ship?" Shepard would have felt sorry for Tali, trying so hard to grasp for something she could understand, if she wasn't feeling the exact same way at that moment.

"No, that's what she _is._ She doesn't have a name like your, uh, Normandy."

"Will you start making some _sense_, Doctor Smith!"

"Actually, it's just the Doctor," the man said.

"Okay, 'just the Doctor,'" Shepard said, exasperated. "You're telling me that a blue box that can fit inside someone's office is a ship. That's piloted only by you. I hope you'll forgive me for not just taking your word on that."

Doctor Smith - the Doctor - actually _grinned_ at that. Like it was Christmas morning. "Oh no, I would never expect you to just take my word. I'm happy to show you."


	6. The Blue Box

_2185  
__The TARDIS (parked on Illium)  
__Normandy SR-2_

"_Keelah!_"

"Spirits!"

"What the _hell-"_

"By the Goddess." That one was more of a soft, whispered exclamation than the others, who had basically yelled the minute they stepped inside. Well, Liara did have some idea of what to expect - while Shepard, Garrus, and Tali had been completely surprised.

The Doctor sat back and grinned as he watched the four of them wander around the TARDIS. It never got old, watching newcomers react to the various unbelievable aspects of his ship. In fact, he was glad that they had all responded so decisively, expressing their wonder and amazement. He _liked_ reactions.

"How is this possible?" Tali asked. She had been the most taciturn previously, but the Doctor was finally starting to get a read on her. Watching her walk around, he was realizing what he should have from the beginning: ships were the way to a quarian's heart. As the others stumbled around, varying degrees of blindly, Tali had gotten her bearings right away and seemed to be trying to identify as many moving parts as she could. The Doctor was surprised to see her getting it right, more often than not.

"Don't touch anything," the Doctor said, and for the first time he read Tali'Zorah fully and clearly: she glared at him through her helmet.

"As if I would," she said indignantly.

"Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. Should have known better."

Garrus had poked his head down a corridor and came back to the control room. "How big is this … place?"

"Big," the Doctor replied.

"How does it all _fit_?"

"It's basically another dimension inside the TARDIS. Which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Creating a little pocket of consistency that can go anywhere."

Garrus' mandibles moved, but the Doctor couldn't quite tell what the expression was supposed to be. "Amazing. Think about the potential for infiltration work! Just get behind your target, open the door, open fire…"

"I am not," the Doctor said, "letting you use the TARDIS to kill people more effectively." He also wasn't going to tell Garrus about the Hostile Action Displacement System. That would just give the turian even more ideas.

"But you want to help us against the Reapers," Garrus said.

"That's different."

"I don't really see how."

"I do not mind helping you destroy the Reapers, because they are a threat to every living thing everywhere," the Doctor said. "But I'm not going to pop in behind a band of mercenaries."

"What about the Collectors?" Shepard asked.

"I'd consider that. Under the right circumstances."

Garrus snorted. "Are there wrong circumstances with the Collectors?"

"I still don't know much about the Collectors, so yes, there could be," the Doctor said.

"So," Tali said slowly, "you can go anywhere in this."

The Doctor was happy to turn the conversation back towards something that would let him show off. "Yes. Here to there in an instant. It also travels through time."

"Time? You mean … it could take me back to Rannoch, before the geth war? I could see the homeworld? The real homeworld?" Tali was talking much faster than she had before. "I could tell them not to build the geth, and…"

"Stop right there," the Doctor said. He always had to mention this. "No, you can't. It's part of your history already. If you stop the events that lead to your people becoming migrants, then you might never have been born. Along with many other things that can't be foreseen. I might be willing to take you to Rannoch, but only if you promise not to interfere."

"This time travel business must be complicated," Shepard said. "How do you avoid mucking up the past? Or … the future, for that matter? But if it's the future, it can still be changed…"

"Your future. Someone else's present. Most of the time I can tell if I'm allowed to mess with things or not."

"Allowed? By whom?"

"Time."

He paused. "Sometimes the TARDIS herself."

"That's… confusing."

"Yes, it is. Good thing I've had lots of practice at it." The Doctor spun around. "Now then. Let's go to the Normandy. Commander Shepard, where's a good spot to park the TARDIS?"

"The shuttle bay, I guess," Shepard replied. "Probably the most open space there."

"Wait - if you're going to the Normandy-" Liara began.

The Doctor grinned and paid no attention to what was almost certainly going to become a protest. "Right then." He threw a switch, and the TARDIS lurched into motion.

* * *

"Unidentified object in the shuttle bay."

Joker looked over at the holographic image of EDI next to him in the cockpit. "Say what?"

"Unidentified object in the shuttle bay."

"Okay," Joker said slowly. "I still don't get it. We're still docked. There hasn't been a hull breach or anything. So how come you think there's something wacky in the shuttle bay?"

"Because there is, Mr. Moreau. I cannot explain how this occurred, but I am certain. There is an unidentified object in the shuttle bay."

Joker sighed. Shepard was still out on Illium, so he pressed the intercom button for Miranda's office. "Miranda? EDI says something weird is going on in the shuttle bay. Could you check it out?"

"Something weird?" Miranda repeated.

"That's all I know," Joker said, exasperated. "Just check it out, will you?"

"Fine. Tell Jacob to meet me there."

"So I'm a messaging service now, am I?" Joker grumbled, but punched the button for the armory. "Jacob. Something weird in the shuttle bay. Miranda wants you to help check it out."

"On my way, Joker."

* * *

Miranda Lawson was rarely surprised. Oh, she couldn't predict everything that was going to happen, but she had become very good at taking things in stride and adapting to different situations.

The sight of a blue "police box" in the shuttle bay was extremely surprising. Miranda just stared at it for a moment, wondering _how_ it got there and what it was doing. Then she remembered why she knew to call it a police box - the Illusive Man had mentioned something like this shortly before the Lazarus Project had ended abruptly.

"So he did it," she murmured softly. It still seemed absurd that this … _thing_ … in front of her was actually capable of traveling through space -and _time._ Miranda's mind started churning through the possibilities.

"Who did what?" Jacob asked, coming up besides her, then stopping and gaping at the sight in front of him. "Whoa."

Miranda shook her head, trying to clear the disbelief. "The Illusive Man. Told me to be on the lookout for this."

"And what the hell is _this_?" Jacob asked, gesturing to the police box.

Miranda opened her mouth to reply, but shut it again as the door opened and Shepard walked out.

"_Shepard?_" Jacob asked. "What the _hell!_"

"Funny, that was my reaction," Shepard said dryly. She stepped out and was followed by Garrus, Tali, an asari that Miranda didn't immediately recognize, and another human. No. If the Illusive Man had been right, an alien who looked human.

"We're on the Normandy!" Tali exclaimed. "That was … like a mass relay. Only there was no mass relay, it was just-" she raised her arms and made a swooping gesture. "Noisy and bumpy. Like a quarian ship. I want to do that again!"

"How do you all _fit _in there?" Jacob asked.

"Other dimension. Or something like that. He didn't explain it very well," Garrus said, looking at the newcomer. "And I _still_ say that it could be very useful-"

"We'll discuss it later, Garrus Vakarian. Now. Who would you be?" the stranger asked, looking over Miranda and Jacob.

"Are you the Doctor?" Miranda asked him.

Everyone except the Doctor turned to look at her in surprise. "Ah, good, someone who's heard of me!" the stranger said. "Except … wait. Do you work for the Illusive Man?"

"Miranda Lawson, and yes," she replied.

"So would this ship be considered a Cerberus operation?"

"Yes."

"Right then." The Doctor closed the door of his police box behind him. "Let me make this clear to you, and I'll make it clear to _him_ if necessary. This is _my_ TARDIS. Just because I'm coming to help Shepard does not mean that I give you, or _anyone else_ with Cerberus, permission to poke at my TARDIS. You lot can't be trusted with its technology. If you try to do _anything_, I will find other ways to help Shepard. Is that clear?"

Miranda schooled her face into a neutral expression. "Crystal. I don't know if he'll like it, but he did put Shepard in charge, so-"

"What the man said," Shepard said, picking up the cue smoothly. "No one pokes at the TARDIS."

"I have recorded these instructions," EDI said. "Rest assured, Doctor, your ship will be safe."

"Oh, the ship speaks!" the Doctor said. "Am I right?"

"You are. I am EDI, the AI of the Normandy. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"AI," the Doctor muttered. "Interesting."

"Shepard, the asari justicar Samara has arrived," EDI said.

"Okay," Shepard said. "Jacob, Miranda… thank you for the caution. You can come with me to help get Samara settled in. Tali, can you take the Doctor to Mordin's lab?"

"No problem," Tali said.

"Mordin?" the Doctor asked.

"Our head scientific researcher," Jacob said. "Professor Mordin Solus, former Salarian Special Tasks Group."

"Right." The Doctor looked as though he was struggling to figure out exactly what that meant.

"I'll meet you there when I'm done with Samara," Shepard said. "Liara… you're welcome to stay on board for a little while. I'm sure Joker would like to see you. And Dr. Chakwas."

"Oh, you're Liara T'Soni," Miranda said, finally placing the asari. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You were onboard the first Normandy," Jacob said with a respectful nod.

Liara nodded. "I was. I am working as an information broker on Illium now. But I am glad to see Shepard again."

"I still have one more person to pick up on Illium, so you can leave with us when we go to find Thane Krios," Shepard said to Liara.

"And we need to meet my contact at Eternity," Miranda added. She wasn't prepared to say more in front of the others - it was too important, and she wasn't letting anyone have any more details than they needed.

Shepard cast a glance over at Miranda and nodded. "Don't worry, Miranda. I haven't forgotten."

"Yes, that will work," Liara said. "I can't spare too much time … but I won't pass up this opportunity."

"Okay. Elevator's this way," Shepard said.

* * *

The Doctor was looking forward to meeting Mordin Solus, the "scientific researcher". He liked those types. He had a vague image of what salarians should look like, but Mordin's appearance still surprised him. Instead of the two horns, Mordin only had one - the other was flat, as though it had been chopped off at some point, and he had scarring on his face.

"Tali! New crew member?" the salarian said.

"Dr. Solus, this is … the Doctor."

"Hm. No other name?"

"No, just 'the Doctor'," the object of discussion said cheerfully.

"Non-medical?" Mordin inquired.

"Yes."

"Good. Less chance of confusion with Dr. Chakwas." Mordin stood and gestured to a chair nearby. "Sit. Need baseline readings for protection against seeker swarm."

"The seeker swarms are what the Collectors use to immobilize their captives," Tali explained. "Mordin developed a counter-measure that protects us when we go out on missions."

"Yes," Mordin said, nodding vigorously. "Do this for all new members. Saves time. Never know when there will be fighting."

The Doctor settled himself in and prepared to look smug.

Mordin's left arm flashed orange, as Garrus and Tali's had during the fight. Now that the Doctor was studying it up close, he recognized it as an _omni-tool_. It was actually some sort of holographic overlay that could still be manipulated. He decided he wanted one.

Mordin pressed a few buttons and held the arm up to the Doctor, moving over his body. His already large eyes widened even further. "_Two_ hearts! Not human?"

"No," the Doctor said, grinning.

"Know of no other species that fits parameters," Mordin said.

"I'm a Time Lord."

Mordin's eyes got even wider, which the Doctor would have said was impossible a moment ago. "_Time _Lord. Astounding implications. Must know more. For now, continuing with examination. Two hearts - redundancy, like krogan?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Interesting respiratory system. Pulmonary tubes - greater oxygen stores? Core temperature lower than human." The omni-tool continued to glitter as it moved over the Doctor's body. "_Fascinating._"

"Is he always like this?" the Doctor asked Tali, who was still watching.

"Yes," Tali replied.

"Saves time. Speech completely intelligible," Mordin said, almost indignantly. "Enough data for seeker swarm protection. Processing now. Results soon. Explain more about Time Lords? Species, origin, abilities?"

"I'll cover that in a minute," the Doctor promised. "As soon as Shepard gets here. There's a lot to explain, and I was hoping for some of your input as well. I'm told you're the smarty-pants around here."

"I think that's my cue to leave," Tali said, "before my head explodes from all the jargon that's about to be thrown out."

"Not jargon! Scientific terminology," Mordin said.

"That's just a fancy way of saying jargon."


	7. Explanations and Extrapolations

_Author's Notes: Once again, I am thrilled that people are enjoying this story! However, I feel the need to clarify some things about this fic._

_What it is: The Doctor running around with the crew of the Normandy and changing the events of ME2/ME3.  
__What it is not: Sontarans and krogans having arm-wrestling contests._

_What it is: The Doctor treating the Reapers as a threat and a problem he needs to solve, with the help of Shepard and everyone following her.  
__What it is not: The Doctor sonics a Reaper and it blows up. Or he calls UNIT and they blow it up. Or he brings in the Judoon._

_What it is: A plot-driven fic with certain relationships highlighted and/or developed, whether they were explored in the game or not.  
__What it is not: "Shepard couldn't understand why she was drawn to this mysterious stranger. What she didn't know is that he had a thing for dangerous women... and Shepard was the most dangerous of them all."_

_Some of this will be clarified in the technobabble in this chapter, but it seems important to state this up front to try and avoid major disappointment later. Some of what I'm outlining is interesting ideas that don't really fit in this fic - and some of it would make the fic extremely boring. If you've liked what you've seen so far, please stick around!_

_2185  
__Normandy SR-2_

Shepard entered the tech lab after seeing Samara to the observation lounge to find the Doctor and Mordin already deep in conversation.

" -independent development. _Would_ be too similar to be coincidence, save for Reapers. Confirmed existence of Reapers and role in galaxy cycles explains _much._" Mordin shook his head. "Elegant explanation. Fits several theories. Can _not_ understand denial."

"I see Tali took off," Shepard commented.

"Ah! Shepard. Good. Can get started." Mordin went to sit behind his desk so that he could start taking notes. "Begin, Doctor."

The Doctor nodded. "First, Shepard. I realize that you've already had the limits of what you know to be possible tested today with my TARDIS." Shepard saw Mordin pause and look up, mouthing the acronym as if trying to make sense of it. "This will seem completely fantastic, but I am telling you the truth. If you don't believe me, you can ask Liara."

"She said you were a colleague," Shepard said, remembering. "She trusts you?"

"Liara said that she'd melded with your mind in the past, to help process the knowledge you received about the Protheans," the Doctor said. "She did the same with me. To give me the knowledge of this universe."

Shepard blinked. "Say again?"

"This universe." The Doctor smiled. "I'm not from around here, as they say."

"_Parallel universe?_" Shepard thought Mordin's head would explode, he looked so excited. "Truly? Travel between universes _possible_?"

"Possible, yes. Advisable, maybe not," the Doctor continued.

"How?"

"Don't really know," the Doctor said. "There was a rift-"

"Back up," Shepard said. "I still don't know _who you are_." So help her, if he just grinned at her and said _I'm the Doctor_…

"I'm a Time Lord," he said. "My people are from a planet called Gallifrey. I'm not sure if the planet exists in this universe or not - my people certainly don't. Regardless, it's outside the Milky Way, and I'm aware that galactic civilization is just that: galactic. Constrained to a single galaxy.

"We're called Time Lords for a reason. For millennia, we have understood and mastered the Time Vortex, which allows us to travel anywhere in time and space. Our TARDISes are - were - my TARDIS is how I do that. Stands for Time and Relative Dimension In Space, Mordin." The salarian looked up, nodded, and went back to typing. "Basically, the interior exists in a dimension different from the exterior. Bigger on the inside, as I like to say."

"So why does it look like a blue box?" Shepard asked. She _thought_ she might be starting to get it. Maybe.

"Well, technically, she can look like anything, but the chameleon circuit has been stuck on the police box for … ages now. I keep meaning to fix it."

"She? Does your ship also contain an AI, Doctor?" EDI asked.

The Doctor jumped a little and looked over his shoulder. "Hello, AI. Listening in again?"

"I am everywhere in this ship. However, I can refrain from making further comments if it disturbs you."

"No, go ahead." The Doctor turned back to look at Shepard and Mordin. "A TARDIS is a living ship. Alive. Though not really capable of talking like, ah, EDI here. In some cases, able to take actions on her own, although that really only happens when things go completely pear-shaped. You shouldn't worry about it. As far as you're concerned, she'll do what I tell her to."

"Why are you _here_?" Shepard asked.

"I was actually contacted by the Illusive Man," the Doctor replied, which startled Shepard. "And no, I don't know how he did it, but he called the TARDIS and asked me to come and help you. He directed me to Liara for a more complete explanation. I'm not sure why."

"Liara did give him my body," Shepard said slowly. "Maybe he thought she'd be inclined to help again. Though he told _me_ she was working with the Shadow Broker and couldn't be trusted." She snorted. "I'm sure he had his own reasons for doing it. I expect I wouldn't agree with them, which might be why he didn't tell me."

"As you might have guessed from my speech back in the shuttle bay, I have no particular love for Cerberus," the Doctor continued. "If I decide to stay, Commander, it's because I think you're worth helping. Which I do. I've fought species like the Reapers before. I hope that I might be able to make a difference here."

"So how did you defeat them?"

The Doctor sighed. "With lots of running and being clever."

"That's not very helpful," Shepard said.

"No, it isn't. I need to know about the Reapers before I can defeat them," the Doctor said. "The last time I faced the Daleks… I failed. They got away. Before that, I had … help." He paused, as though collecting his thoughts. "They brought me on board their ship to gloat. My old enemy, Davros… he needed to see me fall."

"I don't think that's going to happen here," Shepard said. "The Collectors tried to kill me - _did _kill me - two years ago. If it wasn't for Cerberus, I'd already be dead. I don't think they're going to be so kind as to invite me onboard for milk and cookies."

"I turned their own weapon and systems against them," the Doctor said. "And there was quite a bit of prophecy. And monologuing. And a countdown. And … well, that's more detail than you need to know."

_Well, that was very unhelpful._ "So, is there any way we can get the TARDIS on board a Reaper?" Shepard asked, turning her focus back to what could be predicted and verified. "If we could figure out a way to destroy it from the inside, your TARDIS could get us there."

"Geth cannot be hacked. Too many programs running on platforms. Always fight it off. Assume Reapers must have similar defenses." Mordin shook his head. "More data needed. Possible, but need to know Reaper weaknesses. Right now … none."

"I think Professor Solus is right," the Doctor said. "Right now, there's no guarantee that a trip onto a Reaper wouldn't be one-way. And destroying one Reaper wouldn't be enough." He paused. "Hang on. Isn't that what you're doing for the Collectors? It was all kind of confused. I'm not sure I got that."

"We have the ability to follow the Collectors," Shepard said. "We're on the path towards finding their home world. It's not a great lead, but it's the only lead we have. We know there's a connection between the Collectors and the Reapers. We can't get to the Reapers-"

"So you go to the Collectors," the Doctor finished. "Right. Well. I will do my utmost to make sure that everyone comes back from the Collectors alive."

"But what about _time travel_?" Mordin insisted.

"Time travel is a _fact_ in my universe." The Doctor began pacing. "The fabric can adapt, change, rebound. Different universe, different rules. I don't _know_ your rules. I'd need a lot more time to figure that out. And," he said, forestalling the objection he thought Mordin was about to make, "_making_ that time, by me hopping around, risks destabilization, and decreases my chances of getting home." He frowned. "Usually the sort of thing I'd just go off and do, but I don't fancy being stuck here permanently, and rifts were always tricky things."

"Rift- not stable?"

"I need to check the readings from the TARDIS, but it appears to be stable at its current configuration. Which means that one TARDIS can pass through without doing damage. The more travel, the less stable it becomes. General rule for rifts." He stopped and leaned back against the wall. "It doesn't appear as though the ability to travel rapidly between places is a problem. Given what your mass relay system does. It appears similar enough. Time is another issue."

"I may be able to assist with that," EDI said. "I can process information at an advanced rate. Since this is a new topic, I am not sure how effective I will be, but it may be possible for me to figure out the limits of what the universe will permit for time travel. I will need to interface with your ship."

The Doctor pulled a face. "But you're Cerberus."

"I operate within Cerberus parameters."

"Then… no. I'm sorry, EDI. You seem nice, but I already said I won't give Cerberus data on my ship."

"Very well."

"Guess I'll just have to do it myself, then," the Doctor muttered.

"If I can be of any assistance -"

"Yes, yes, I'll let you know," the Doctor said, waving a hand around.

"Mentioned your species - your planet - not in this reality," Mordin said. "Know this - how? Other differences?"

"Probably lots," the Doctor said. "I've never seen you, or a turian, or an asari before. The other times it's happened, it's been more like … alternate versions of the reality I know. Subtle changes. Sometimes having big effects, but you can usually point to one thing, or two, well, a small handful. As far as I can tell, things are completely different here. Humans are the only constant." The Doctor glanced over at Shepard. "You lot. You're everywhere."

"Opinion shared by many species," Mordin said with a nod. "Especially batarians." He paused. "Other rifts? _Other_ universes?"

"Batarians - those are the blokes with four eyes?"

"Yes."

"Right. As far as other universes go, I'm not quite sure. It used to be that my people could stabilize things so that neither universe was in danger if a rift appeared. But I'm the last of my kind."

"Truly?" Mordin looked even more interested now.

"He's not a museum piece, Mordin," Shepard said dryly.

"Of course not." Mordin looked offended at the thought.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes. I'm the last. There was a war, between my people and the Daleks - the enemies I mentioned earlier, with similar goals to the Reapers. Well. From what I understand, the Reapers don't kill everything. They leave some organic species to flourish for the next … cycle?"

Shepard nodded. "Humans were around 50,000 years ago. Just not very advanced at that point."

"The Daleks really do want to be the only life form in the universe. And they have some ability with time travel as well - so the war wasn't just costing lives, it was tearing reality apart. Creating abominations, monsters that should never have existed." He looked down at the floor. "I ended it."

Shepard had seen that look before. "You killed them both," she said. "Destroyed your people and the Daleks alike."

"I had to."

Shepard walked over and laid a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I'm sure," she said gently. "You were saving the rest of the universe by doing so. It must have been a hard decision."

The Doctor looked up at her, and Shepard thought she understood him a bit better. When they'd first met, she'd thought how absurdly _young_ he looked. Then again, Tali, who was barely an adult by quarian standards, was one of the brightest and most competent people Shepard had ever met.

She'd been wrong about the Doctor. He was old. Maybe his people were like the asari, not visibly aging the way humans did. However it was, he might be the oldest person on the ship.

"I suppose," the Doctor said, "you would know something about that."

Shepard nodded. "Not on the same scale, but … I had to choose between saving the Council's ship, and saving Alliance forces. _Human_ forces. There are those," and her mouth twisted as she thought of that obnoxious reporter, "who say that I failed my species by saving the _Destiny Ascencion_. But I'm a Spectre. I can't be just a human. I have to look out for _everyone_."

"Also know something about that," Mordin said, then took one of his long breaths. He was going to start on the genophage, Shepard knew, and she shook her head quietly. There was time for that later. Mordin started, then nodded to Shepard in understanding.

The somber mood was broken by Mordin's attention-seeking cough. "Your ship. Possible to see?" He looked over his shoulder at a beeping instrument and reluctantly added, "Later?"

Shepard smirked as the Doctor's face lit up again. _He just loves showing off, doesn't he?_ "Of course, Professor Solus. It would be my pleasure to have you aboard when you have time."

"I'd like you to introduce yourself to a few more people onboard, sometime," Shepard commented. "Joker's our pilot. You might be able to trade tips with him."

The Doctor pulled a face. "Flying a TARDIS isn't really like flying a normal ship."

"Then I'm sure Joker would love to hear about it, since the Normandy's not exactly normal either," Shepard said. "You saw Miranda and Jacob briefly - they're both Cerberus people, but they've been useful. Zaeed and Grunt are down in the cargo area. Zaeed's human, and Grunt's a krogan. And Dr. Chakwas would probably appreciate anything you could do for the med bay. We seem to need patching up a lot."

"Following Shepard may be hazardous to your health," Mordin put in.

"There are lots of things I do that are hazardous to my health," the Doctor said. "So, nothing new."

Shepard just shook her head. "That ship of yours - is it okay to stay in the shuttle bay? It's not going to fly out when we take the shuttle out, is it?"

"No, no, she's much too stable," the Doctor said. "Besides, I can always put her down somewhere else temporarily."

"Then … welcome to the Normandy, Doctor."

"Do you know," the Doctor said, "I'm getting the sense I might actually like it here."


	8. Motivations

_2185  
__Normandy SR-2  
__Illium_

Garrus looked up as the door to Port Observation slid open and Shepard walked in. Liara stood instantly from where she'd been sitting on the couch, beaming at the Commander. "Glad you could join us," she said, slightly teasing. "It wouldn't be a 'first Normandy' reunion without you."

"I can spare as much time as you can," Shepard said with a grin. "You were about to protest when the Doctor unceremoniously brought us here. I'd think you'd want to get back to work quickly."

"Now that I'm here, I'm finding I don't want to rush back," Liara replied, sinking back onto the couch between Tali and Garrus.

"So, Shepard, what is this Doctor's story?" Dr. Chakwas asked. She was sitting on the other couch, next to Joker. Garrus had been surprised to see Joker out of the flight deck, but he'd said that this was worth it. Besides, they were still docked, so he wasn't needed at the moment.

"I heard a little bit about this police box, but - man! Talk about unbelievable," Joker put in.

"Oh, it gets crazier," Shepard said, taking a seat next to Joker. "He's from another universe."

"Get. Out." Joker said, the first to break the silence. "Commander, are you sure this guy isn't just completely nuts?"

"Joker, he showed up in a _magic blue box,_" Shepard said dryly. "You're balking at 'another universe'?"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Joker said.

Shepard sighed. "Let me see if I can simplify this. The box is a ship that can, theoretically, travel anywhere in space and time, although theoretically is the key since this universe plays by different rules than his own. The universe is very different from ours, no similar species except humans. He's called a Time Lord, and his people are all gone, except him - he killed them at the same time he killed his people's enemies, who were kind of like Reapers. Oh, and his ship is alive in some way. He wasn't clear on that." She paused. "There was a lot he wasn't clear on."

"This really does seem rather unbelievable," Dr. Chakwas said.

"I saw inside his mind, Karin," Liara said. She was one of the few people to actually call Dr. Chakwas by her first name. Of course, they'd spent a lot of time together on the first Normandy. "I don't have any doubt."

Dr. Chakwas shook her head. "I suppose I can believe you, at least."

"Having traveled inside the aforementioned magic box, I find it easier to believe," Garrus said. "Nothing I've ever seen is even remotely close to it. So the 'other universe' explanation fits as well as anything else I might try and come up with."

"Wait - you said space and _time_?" Joker said. "So, time travel is possible?"

"I said theoretically, didn't I?" Shepard replied.

"Aw, man, that would be so cool!" Joker exclaimed. "You could go and actually see all the important events in human history. Oh, and Liara, you could actually go talk to a Prothean!"

"Joker…" Shepard began.

"Come _on_, Commander. You're trying to tell me you can't think of something cool you'd do if you could _travel through time_?"

"I'd want to see the end of the Unification War," Garrus said. "Major turning point in turian history."

"You already know where I'd go," Tali said wistfully. "The homeworld, before we had to leave it."

"Neil Armstrong," Dr. Chakwas put in. "I'd want to see him land on the moon."

"I admit, I would like to see the Prothean empire," Liara said.

"See? Everyone can name something off the top of their heads," Joker said triumphantly. "Well, Shepard?"

Shepard put her head down. "I'd try to find my parents," she said softly.

Garrus felt like cursing Joker. Of course that would be what she'd think of. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, offering support. Shepard reached her hand up to cover his, the warmth of her bare skin seeping through his gloves. When she lifted her head, she was back to being her usual unflappable and solid self. Very like a turian, in fact.

"Right," she said. "You all may have time to sit around and discuss flights of fancy, but I've got an assassin to recruit. Garrus, Tali - suit up."

"I'm already suited," Tali quipped.

Shepard grinned. "You know what I mean. And I'm sure it's time for Liara to get back to work."

"You should stay with us," Garrus said. "Forget this information broker thing. You belong on the Normandy."

Liara rose. "I can't. I have work to do on Illium. But I will miss you all. It was good to be back here for a little while." She looked over at Shepard. "I may have something else you can help me with. Drop by after you're done tracking down this drell."

"I will," Shepard promised. "I'll meet you all in the airlock in five."

* * *

Shepard was seriously annoyed with Nassana Dantius. Her first dealings with the asari had left a sour taste in her mouth - she'd bought the sob story of the captured sister, and had kicked herself afterwards for it. Reporting Nassana's actions to some appropriate asari authority had been on her list of things to do after she'd taken care of Saren - but she hadn't gotten to it in the month following. The month before the destruction of the first _Normandy_.

Working her way through the second Dantius Tower had lowered her opinion of Nassana even further. Every salarian worker that she encountered had raised her blood pressure. She had been glad to help them when she could - they deserved better than they'd gotten from Nassana. Shepard resolved to ask Liara about ways to help the salarians, especially the brothers Telon and Chesith.

She'd been skeptical about the wisdom of fighting through defenses set up by a paranoid asari just to get to one guy - but it was turning out to be a pure joy to demolish the defenses. They were _worth_ demolishing. Shepard had yet to meet a mech that had been on her side (except for the sabotaged YMIR back on Omega) and this was only the latest in a long line of instances where Eclipse mercenaries had been in her way.

Shepard took point as they headed to the roof. She ducked for cover when the LOKI mechs started shooting, and a moment later she heard the fizz and crackle of the mechs' power being overloaded and them falling over, courtesy of Garrus and Tali. Then they ducked for cover as Eclipse mercs came out, surrounded by biotic blue glows that always indicated trouble ahead. Shepard switched to her pistol and focused fire on one of the mercenaries, taking out her barrier, then unleashed a series of shockwaves that knocked her off her feet - and kept her there. Tali had deployed her combat drone, and Shepard resisted the urge to grin as she heard Tali talking to the drone. It was unbelievably cute, and unbelievably Tali. Garrus was doing his best to take down the barriers and shields, paving the way for Shepard to use her biotics to charge forward, knocking them down before using her shotgun to finish them off. Of the new biotic tricks she'd picked up since being brought back from the dead, she liked it the best - though she had to be careful about not just putting herself in the midst of well-armed, uninjured enemies.

The three of them made short work of the mercs and pushed forward, picking up supplies from a med-kit that someone had left lying around. Shepard took point again as they passed through an opening around the corner. She saw a mercenary talking on the radio, not paying attention to his surroundings, and signaled for Garrus to take him down with a concussive round. The merc's cry of surprise was cut off as Shepard slammed into him, still glowing with biotic energy. There were two more mercs nearby, but they didn't have barriers up and she heard Tali encouraging her drone on. Shepard vaulted back over the concrete barrier and crouched, letting her amp recharge before she got back in the fight. She heard the mechs moving forward only to be stopped short by Garrus and Tali, and figured it was safe. Shepard popped back up to shoot at the container near two of the mercenaries, which exploded and finished the mercs off.

There was one mercenary left, sporting both a biotic glow and the orange-yellow of tech shields. Tali's drone took the first strike, and once the barrier was extinguished both Tali and Garrus overloaded the shields down to nothing. Shepard reloaded her shotgun and charged in, knocking the asari down and filling her with pellets before she could recover.

"Almost to the bridge," Shepard said as they strode forward. She noticed a submachine gun lying around and scanned it with her omni-tool. "Hm. This looks useful," she said.

"How is it that you find these useful things wherever we go?" Garrus asked.

Shepard grinned. "Just lucky, I guess."

As they approached the bridge, they were met with gunfire. Shepard saw a handful of mechs before she ducked behind an exhaust vent, Tali and Garrus joining her.

"I don't care what you do, no one gets across that bridge!" Nassana yelled over a speaker.

"Like this is going to slow us down," Garrus said, shocking one of the mechs.

"Hasn't so far!" Shepard replied before popping up to send a series of shockwaves towards a group of mechs and mercenaries, knocking some of them over the edge.

"Watch the biotic!" Tali called, sending her combat drone in that direction and following it up with a couple of shotgun blasts.

Shepard noticed that the biotic's barrier had faded and that she was the last one standing - which meant it was time to charge forward, knock her down, and follow that up with a shotgun blast of her own. She ducked behind another exhaust vent, anticipating that there would be more resistance before they got to the other tower. Sure enough, more mercenaries were running for them, trying to take down Garrus and Tali as they pushed forward.

"Pick 'em off and keep pressing," Shepard directed, switching back to her pistol to take down the barriers of an asari merc coming towards them.

"Rockets!" Tali said, ducking out of the way of one coming towards her.

"Garrus, can you take them out?" Shepard asked.

"Glad to," Garrus replied, switching to his sniper rifle and chambering a round.

"Good. We'll keep the heat off of you," Shepard said, switching back to her shotgun and charging towards the next exhaust vent. She heard the rocket fly past above her and was glad she'd gotten the timing right. Another rocket launched as she dived for cover. She looked across the roof to see that Tali had also run forward, and nodded to the quarian. The rockets fired again, and Shepard popped out to shoot the nearest merc.

The next time, only one rocket fired. "Scoped and dropped!" Garrus crowed in triumph.

"One more," Shepard said, ducking out to shoot at the mercs again. "Tali, focus on the asari. Take their barriers down."

"Got it," Tali replied, deploying her combat drone. More mercs were coming forward, and Shepard had to trust that Garrus and Tali would use their best judgment, because she fell into a rhythm that blocked out everything else: duck out, empty a thermal clip, duck back in, reload. She ran through the ammo on her pistol quickly and switched to the shotgun - the mercs were getting close enough to do some real damage. She didn't even notice when the second rocket stopped firing. What did get her attention was Nassana Dantius' voice.

"I'm sending in reinforcements! Finish them off!"

Garrus dropped into cover besides her. "Just a few left, Shepard. Asari, mostly."

"Good. Let's finish them," Shepard said. She'd picked up a few ammo clips and reloaded her pistol. "Like we did before. Target one and bring them down." She looked across to make sure that Tali had heard her instructions, and got a nod in response.

Shepard, Garrus, and Tali made short work of the rest of the mercenaries. "Now for Nassana," Shepard commented as they walked towards the penthouse door.

When they walked inside, Shepard surveyed the situation. The asari was surrounded by Eclipse mercenaries that would be easy to take out. Nassana's face was a mixture of horror and shock, which was _quite_ satisfying under the circumstances.

"Shepard? But … you're dead!" Nassana exclaimed.

"I got better," Shepard replied. Behind her, she heard Garrus snicker.

Nassana moved forward warily. "And now you're here to kill me."

"You really are paranoid, aren't you?" Shepard asked.

"Don't patronize me, Shepard," Nassana said, turning her back on Shepard. _Not really a smart move._

"Charming as ever," Shepard quipped.

"I'm sure you find this all very ironic," Nassana said as she paced. "First you take care of my sister, and now you're here for me." She paused, then turned back to face Shepard. "Well, you made it this far. Now what?"

"You really think I'm here to kill you?"

Nassana sounded exasperated. "Do you have another reason for destroying my tower? Decimating my security?"

_When you put it that way…_ "I'm just looking for someone."

"You expect me to believe that?" Nassana continued to pace. "Is it credits? Is that what you want? Just tell me your price. We can make this problem go away."

"All the credits in the world can't make this problem go away, Nassana."

One of the Eclipse mercenaries was waving her gun around. "What?" Nassana asked, annoyed.

"I heard something," the merc said.

"Damn it," Nassana said. "Check the other entrances."

_Really paranoid_, Shepard thought. But not without reason.

"You-" Nassana pointed at Shepard. "Stay put."

Shepard folded her arms and gave Nassana her best don't-mess-with-me stare. Behind all the mercenaries, a graceful figure dropped from the air vent to the floor, recovering in a moment. _So that's what a drell looks like, _Shepard thought, watching him move. Green skin, patterned like an iguana's, large round eyes, and what looked like gills on his neck. None of the mercenaries had noticed him, and he started moving to dispatch them. Shepard was content to just watch.

"When I'm finished dealing with this nuisance, you and I are going to…" Nassana trailed off as she finally noticed that her bodyguards were being taken down. "Who-"

The bodyguards were dead, and Nassana had a pistol pointed squarely at her gut. The gun fired, and the drell caught her before she fell to the ground, laying her gently on the screens behind her. He crossed her arms over her chest. It was the oddest kill Shepard had ever seen - quick, efficient, and apparently also compassionate.

The drell took a step back, examined his work, and then bowed his head with his hands clasped together. Was he _praying_?

"Impressive," Garrus noted. "You certainly know how to make an entrance." Both he and Tali still had their weapons pointed at the newcomer.

Shepard stepped forward to get a better look at the drell. "I was hoping to talk to you," she said.

"I apologize," the drell said in a gravelly voice, "but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

_Really, at this point, I shouldn't be surprised by how _weird_ the folks I'm supposed to be picking up are._ "Do you really think she deserves it?" Shepard asked aloud.

The drell lifted his head, shaking it gently. "Not for her. For me."

Suddenly his behavior made a lot more sense. Didn't stop it from being weird, but it gave Shepard a bit of extra perspective she'd been missing a moment ago.

"The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone," the drell continued, starting to walk around. "Take you, for instance. All this destruction … chaos." Shepard's gaze tracked him as he moved around to the front of the screens Nassana was laying on. "I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me." He paused, squarely in front of Shepard. "Well … here I am."

_And we're back to confusing._ "How did you know I was coming at all?"

"I didn't," the drell replied. "Not until you marched in the front door and started shooting." He walked past Shepard to inspect Garrus and Tali. "Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her. You," he said, "were a valuable distraction."

Shepard felt irrationally angry at him, all of a sudden. "You used me. So you could kill her."

"I needed a diversion; you needed to speak with me," the drell replied calmly.

Shepard felt like sighing and shaking her head. Instead, she nodded to Garrus and Tali, who put their weapons away.

The drell - Thane - turned to face Shepard. "You certainly fulfilled your end of the bargain. What would you like to discuss?"

The explanation was getting easier to give all the time. "Someone's been abducting entire human colonies. We're going to stop them. We already know the culprits - a race called the Collectors."

"I've heard of them," Thane said. "Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."

Shepard still got a twinge whenever someone said that aloud. Having died once, she wasn't particularly eager to do it again. She'd improve her odds however she could - work with anyone who would help her - but that was always in the background, that she might not make it. That she had no reason to expect to cheat death twice. But she wasn't about to let any of these strangers see that. She straightened herself up and said calmly, "They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos, too."

"A fair point," Thane acknowledged. "You've built a career on performing the impossible." He turned back to face the sunset, lowering his head slightly. "This was to be my last job. I'm dying." He left a pause there, as if it still weighed on him. "Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."

"I hadn't heard that," Shepard said softly. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Giving me this opportunity is enough." Thane paused. "The universe is a dark place. I'm trying to make it brighter before I die. Many innocents died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for that." He turned to face Shepard, and extended his hand. She grasped it. "I will work for you, Shepard. No charge."

"Welcome aboard, Thane," Shepard said. "Let's get back to the ship."


	9. Ghosts of the Past

_2185  
__Normandy SR-2  
_  
The Doctor entered Starboard Observation to find Samara sitting, cross-legged, on the ground. He walked around to where he was facing her. "Hello," he said.

"Doctor," Samara acknowledged, unfolding her legs and standing up. "Are you all settled in?"

"For the most part," the Doctor said. "I haven't met everyone yet. Shepard suggested a few names to me, but I - wanted to come here first."

"I am sure I need to meet many of the same people," Samara said. "However, I thought it might be wise to first spend some time in quiet meditation. This is a big change for me."

"Yes," the Doctor said. The silence stretched out for a long moment. "I owed you an explanation," he finally said.

"I am curious to hear it," Samara replied.

"Actually, it might be easier to just - show you," the Doctor said.

Samara looked puzzled. "You mean through connecting our minds? That is not usually how it works, Doctor."

"It worked with Liara T'Soni."

Samara gave that some thought, then nodded. "All right." She placed herself directly in front of him and closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, they had gone black.

Then the world went white around them. When it snapped back into focus, they were standing in a bare room, white as far as the eye could see.

"This is … unique," Samara said. "It is almost more like melding with another asari than a human, but even then - different. Your mind is … focused. Clear is not the right word. Jumbled and confused, yes, but orderly. It should be a contradiction. But it is not. It is a chaos that I can make sense of."

"You're powerful," the Doctor said, in awe of the environment. "Focused and _strong_. This is … a canvas waiting to be painted."

Samara seemed to ripple as she moved, turning to face him. "What is it that you wished to show me?"

The Doctor lifted his arm as if to gesture, then thought better of it, lowering it to his side. Gallifrey came into focus, zooming forward from nothing to occupy the space around them. The Doctor's hearts constricted as he saw the _splendor_ of it all again. "This is my planet," he said. "It's called Gallifrey." The background didn't change, but he _felt_ something pass into the air around them, and into Samara. Information as a tangible thing that could be passed. If only he could recreate this in other circumstances…

"I see," Samara said after a long moment of absorbing the information. "You have had many faces. Lived many lives. That is … that cannot be an easy thing."

"No, it isn't," the Doctor said. Around him, the ghosts of his past flickered into existence momentarily. Susan. Sarah Jane, both when she was younger and the last time the Doctor had seen her. Peri. Ace. Rose. Donna.

Amy and Rory.

For a moment, the pair of them were so clear and real he felt as though they had somehow stowed away on the TARDIS and were nearby, Amy's ginger hair even moving a bit with a nonexistent breeze. They were holding hands and smiling at him. Samara's gaze landed on them, and then the landscape flickered out entirely, back to formless white.

"The people whose lives you have touched," Samara said.

"For better or for worse," the Doctor replied. "Most of the time … worse."

"You truly believe that," Samara said. "They chose to come with you, and then to keep going."

"Only because I gave them no choice," the Doctor said. "What kind of idiot would turn down the kind of chance I was giving them?"

"And would they not argue that their lives are richer for it?" Samara asked. "You dwell on those with bad endings, but you also have those who went on to do marvelous things, who left of their own choice and _lived_, Doctor."

"It's besides the point, anyways," the Doctor grumbled. "I needed - someone else to understand. Just this once. Because you _can_ understand. Because asari lives are varied, and full, and rich, with the ability - the _expectation_ - of going out and just seeing what's there. Because you truly are almost as old as I am, and -"

He paused as a scene came into focus around them. Their surroundings reconfigured themselves into an open chamber that the Doctor now recognized as a typical asari home. Two young asari were sitting on a couch, bearing a startling resemblance to Samara herself. Samara was speaking, but the words seemed to flow away before they could reach the Doctor's ears. In the blink of an eye, the compressed conversation came to him - the essence of what had passed, not every word. And it was just the words, too, with only a hint of the deep emotions that had been flowing through both sides.

_I am leaving._

_Why, Mother?_

_Your sister. I must find her._

_We need you, Mother!_

_Mirala is my responsibility. Those she kills are on my conscience. I must stop her. I can do nothing else._

The scene faded away slowly as the Doctor turned to face Samara. "You showed me that," he said. "Why?"

"Those were two of my daughters," Samara said. "You know that asari can meld - reproduce - with any other species. My daughters' fathers, to use the human terminology, were also asari. Since encountering other species, a stigma against purebloods has crept into asari society. My daughters - others like them - are part of the reason." She was standing straight and steady now, gazing out across the nothingness. "They are called Ardat-Yakshi. When they meld, it is painful to their partners, even deadly. Mirala - she calls herself Morinth now - ran rather than enter a life of seclusion, as Falere and Rila did. They are the three most powerful Ardat-Yakshi currently living. I have sometimes wondered if that is because my biotic abilities are strong, even for an asari of my age."

She turned to face the Doctor. "What I showed you was a scene from four hundred years ago. That is how long I have been hunting my eldest child. Because Ardat-Yakshi only arise among pureblood partnerships, and I am also a pureblood, I took a great risk - I did not know how great - when choosing another asari as my partner." Samara's features softened slightly, a difference so small that the Doctor almost missed it. "But I love my daughters. My life is richer for having borne them. Falere and Rila are content in their monastery, with their life of seclusion, hurting no one - _choosing_ to hurt no one. Was I irresponsible in introducing dangerous children into this world, just to fulfill a maternal need?"

"You didn't know they would be dangerous," the Doctor said.

"Exactly so," Samara replied. "Just as you did not know when you brought your companions on board. But are there any of those whose company you would have forsaken? If you could do it again…"

"I'd take them with me," the Doctor replied. "Every one of them. Well. Maybe not Rory."

"You do not mean that."

"No. If only because Amy would be very cross with me." The Doctor let some of the tension he'd been carrying drain out. "Thank you, Samara."

He paused a moment before looking back at her. "Have you seen them? Falere and Rila?"

"I - have been hunting my eldest child continually for four hundred years," Samara said.

"Four hundred years," the Doctor said, well aware of the irony of the situation, "is a long time not to see one's family."

"Yes. It is." Samara paused again, and the landscape flickered to reveal the younger asari again. They were sitting together, both of them smiling.

"One of the responsibilities of a justicar is to conduct Ardat-Yakshi who have not yet melded with anyone to the monastery," Samara said, her gaze firmly fixed on the images of her daughters. "We justicars are frequently in contact with one another. Others … have mentioned Falere and Rila. How they serve as mentors to some of the younger asari who come in. How they are frequently together, the best of friends as well as sisters."

"I would imagine such knowledge gives you comfort," the Doctor said.

"It does," Samara said, turning away from the image and letting it fade. "Tell me about them. The young couple. Amy and Rory."

"What, you didn't pick that up from me?" the Doctor asked.

Samara turned her calm, serene gaze fully towards him, and it didn't take long for him to relent. "They are my dearest friends," he said. "I met Amy when she was a young girl. Then I left for twenty minutes and came back to a grown woman. She loves Rory. Fiercely. I - was very close to destroying that love." The pair of them were standing there again, but in Amy's arms was a cloth-wrapped bundle. Their heads were bent over the bundle. "Because of me, their child was taken away from them. Brought up to be a killer. A psychopath. They saw her grow up, all right, but not in the way that parents should. And now-"

The forms blurred again, and River Song was standing there, smiling as if she was about to say _Spoilers, _her frizzy hair going in all directions. He wanted to walk over and bury his hands in that hair, pulling her towards him, feeling his heartbeat increase as she looked up at him-

He swallowed. Banished the feelings. "River Song. Melody Pond. We never got things in the right order, she and I. Sometimes she looks at me and sees - more than me. The me of the future. She trusts me in a way that few others have. Perhaps none. I have-" and he had to stop and swallow before continuing - "demanded blind faith, at times, from those who travel with me. River's faith is not blind. Or, well, it was, but _I_ had faith in _her_ in those instances. It balanced out." He stared at her image, her ghost, for a long moment, unwilling to banish it.

"You love her," Samara said quietly.

In this place, the space formed by his and Samara's minds, he could not bring himself to deny it. "I have never clearly articulated my feelings towards her," he said. "Never _truly_ expressed the complicated tangle inside me whenever she's around. I have tried to run from her, and not gotten very far."

"I would say that you should do that before you run out of time," Samara said, "but-"

"I will," the Doctor finished. "I know I will at some point. I know we are not done." He bowed his head, and the image of River faded. "It is one reason why I am here. I know my own future, a small portion, and what I know, I cannot change. Therefore - I will not die on this quest. I will return to my own time and place. And before I do that, I can stop the Reapers."

"With Shepard," Samara said.

The Doctor grunted. "She made that quite clear. Not used to being ordered about by someone else, but I'll … make it work."

"Because she deserves your respect."

"I'm not used to having someone finish my thoughts like that," the Doctor said, feeling a bit irritable. Donna ghosted in front of him again. "Don't ask me about her."

"No, I think that we have done enough," Samara said, closing her eyes again. The vivid reality of the Normandy snapped back into place around them. He could no longer feel her mind. No. He could feel it, but there was a distance now. He hoped there was some distance on her end. He disliked being an open book.

"I would like it if you would visit me again," Samara said, folding herself onto the floor.

He lied all the time. But he couldn't lie to her. She'd know. "I will try," he said instead.

* * *

_Author's Note: After a lot of indecision on how to split the next bit of the narrative, you'll be getting another character-focused chapter after this one before it kicks into high gear with the disabled Collector vessel. Enjoy!_


	10. I Don't Do Guns

_2185  
__Normandy SR-2  
__Kodiak Shuttle_

Shepard exited the briefing room, rolled her shoulders backward, and then drew herself up straight. She couldn't help but feel nervous about what the Illusive Man had just told her. She'd made a career of charging off into the unknown, but something about this seemed too easy. A turian ship just happened to damage a Collector vessel? The Illusive Man just happened to get this information at a time when he could send Shepard off to investigate?

The Illusive Man was too smart not to see the dangers in this, but all Shepard had gotten from him was confidence. Was that just his usual attitude of playing everything close to the chest, or was he truly not seeing how convenient this was?

Shepard shook her head. No use worrying about it now.

"Coordinates punched in. Let's go find us a Collector ship," Joker said.

"Thanks, Joker. Can you have Garrus and the Doctor meet me in the armory?" Shepard asked.

"No problem, Commander," Joker replied.

Shepard turned left for the armory and walked over to Jacob, who saluted her. "Commander," he said.

Shepard crossed her arms and stared at him for a moment. "I'd like an explanation for your behavior back there on Illium," she said finally. "What the _hell_ were you thinking, Taylor?"

Jacob winced. Good, that had struck home. "I - Miranda was going to shoot Niket-"

"Yes, and I was going to stop her," Shepard said. "I didn't want her to have that on her conscience. Niket could've given us more information about what Henry Lawson knows. But instead, you put a bullet in his chest, of your own initiative. I thought you knew better, Jacob. That was stupid and reckless. I'd have expected something like that from Zaeed, not you."

Shepard watched as Jacob struggled with what to say to that, finally settling on, "Yes, Commander." Which was probably the smartest thing he could have said.

"Go speak to Miranda," Shepard said, and was a bit too happy to see the look of horror that flashed on Jacob's face at that. "If _she_ tells me that you're fit to come back, I'll believe her. Until then, you won't be coming on any missions with me. Dismissed."

Jacob saluted, then turned to exit the armory. As he walked out, Garrus came in, walking over to stand next to Shepard. "I heard about what he did. Light a fire under his ass, did you?"

"Only a small one," Shepard admitted. "I sent him to Miranda so she could finish the job."

"_Ouch._ You've got a devious mind, Shepard." Garrus leaned back against the wall. "So what's this about?"

"I'll explain in a minute, as soon as -" Shepard cut off as the armory door opened once more and the Doctor walked in. The human - no, _Time Lord_ - looked around with a vague expression of distaste.

"Doctor. Settling in okay?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, fine," the Doctor replied, waving a hand around and continuing to examine his surroundings.

"Good. I just got a tip from the Illusive Man about a Collector vessel that was damaged by a turian patrol and, apparently, abandoned," Shepard said. "We're going to check it out. Doctor, I assumed you would want to come with us, and that's fine with me. However, I'm afraid I have to insist you be armed this time." She opened one of the lockers and pulled out her pistol. "This is the M-6 Carnifex Hand Cannon. It's one of my guns. Slow rate of fire, but each bullet packs a powerful punch. I think we've got enough time to fabricate one for you, but if not, I'm fairly confident Mordin would let you use his."

"No," the Doctor said.

Shepard had a bad feeling as to where this was going, but chose to act obtuse for the time being. "Not a pistol? All right, how about a submachine gun." She placed the Carnifex down. "M-9 Tempest. Much more ammo. Good for suppressive fire."

"No, I won't take a gun," the Doctor said, practically spitting the words out. Garrus looked on, amused. "I don't do guns."

"I have to tell you, you're not going to get far with us if you take that attitude," Garrus said. "All of us carry two weapons, at a minimum, wherever we go. It's saved our asses in more than one situation." Shepard suspected he was remembering their trip to Purgatory to get Jack.

"I don't do guns," the Doctor repeated.

"Then what do you use to defend yourself?" Shepard asked.

"This," the Doctor said, almost proudly, taking out a small metal object from his coat pocket. It was barely longer than his hand, and had a green light on its end. Shepard couldn't begin to guess what it was. "My sonic screwdriver."

Garrus coughed out a laugh. "_Sonic screwdriver?_ That sounds like a drink you'd get at Afterlife."

"Does it shoot laser beams?" Shepard asked, unable to keep a straight face despite her best efforts.

"This has gotten me out of more scrapes that you've ever been in, Commander Shepard," the Doctor said, his expression completely serious.

That was, abruptly, too much. He just looked so _ridiculous_ standing there insisting he didn't need a gun because he had a _screwdriver_, wearing a tweed jacket with _a goddamn bow tie_. Both Shepard and Garrus burst out laughing. Shepard was doubled over thinking about how a little metal thing could _possibly_ be half as effective as a gun.

When Shepard had regained control, she saw the Doctor standing there with his arms folded, looking serious. "Okay," Shepard said. "I don't really believe you, but - hell. I've tried to make you understand the risks, and if you won't carry a gun, then that's on your head, not mine." She paused, wiping a stray tear from her face. "But will you at least take an omni-tool?"

"I've already spoken to Mordin about that," the Doctor said with a decisive nod. "He's got an extra one that he's modifying for me."

"Has he figured out what's flammable or inflammable yet?" Garrus asked, which was _just_ amusing enough to get Shepard cackling again, and it wasn't long before Garrus joined her.

"You're a pair of wits, you two," the Doctor grumbled. "This is the problem with soldiers. They always think with their guns."

Shepard took a few deep breaths to try and regain control. "You don't know me well yet, so I'll let that slide," she said. "But, anyway, I'll come with you to see how Mordin's doing on that omni-tool. Garrus, can you tell Grunt he's coming with us? We'll meet you both at the shuttle."

"_Grunt._ Oh, this should be fun," Garrus replied, his mandibles flaring in amusement.

"You're bringing someone named 'Grunt'. This is because I made that crack about soldiers, isn't it?" the Doctor asked.

Shepard grinned. "Yup. I think you'll like him, Doctor."

—

The Doctor was put out that some of his rather tidy preconceptions were being shattered, but he supposed he should've expected that.

Take, for instance, the creature in front of him that responded to the name "Grunt". The Doctor had, apparently, taken the information Liara gave him about krogans and mentally lumped them in with Sontarans without a second thought. A belligerent and militaristic race that wanted to be a part of every war that existed, obsessed to the point of being somewhat comical and predictable.

The creature standing in front of him was not really like a Sontaran, physically, and the Doctor could already tell there was an attitude difference as well. The krogan was the single largest being that the Doctor had encountered since crossing the rift into this universe. He was a lumbering hulk of a beast, broad-shouldered and beefy, and the coloring of his - scales? - was almost pretty, slate blue-grey coloring over salmon pink. The Doctor was quite sure that he'd be snapped in half in an instant if the krogan was in the mood for it - physically strong and in no mood to tolerate fools. Still, no point in letting the krogan know that he was slightly intimidating. The Doctor had a lot of practice at hiding his feelings, after all.

"Hello, er, Grunt," the Doctor said, doing his best to look calm.

"Urdnot Grunt," the krogan replied. "Not Er Grunt. Never heard of clan Er. Maybe they became part of Urdnot. Sounds kind of similar."

" … Right," the Doctor said. "Well, anyway, it's, ah, nice to meet you. I'm called the Doctor."

"You can call him Grunt," Shepard called over her shoulder. "He's just still excited over being accepted as part of Clan Urdnot and wants everyone to know it."

"Urdnot Wrex is doing great things on Tuchanka," Grunt said. "I am proud to have him as clan leader. But I fight for Shepard. She is my battlemaster."

"Do krogan usually fight for others, then?" the Doctor asked.

"Wrex was a merc when he signed up with us," Garrus said. "He stayed on because he wanted to stop Saren. There's a lot of krogan who wander the galaxy as mercs."

"Wrex. Ah. Right. He was on the Normandy," the Doctor said, information finally seeping through to his conscious mind. "Now clan leader, you said. Well. Good for him."

Grunt took a minute to inspect the Doctor, walking around him, looking him up and down and frowning. "You are not in armor. And you carry no weapons. Are they … invisible?"

"Ah, no. I do not, in fact, have either weapons or armor. I don't need them."

Grunt frowned, an action that made the patterns on his forehead shift slightly. "I don't understand."

"He says he doesn't need them, and I'll believe him right up until he asks me for my gun to cover his ass," Shepard said, tossing a grin the Doctor's way as if throwing out a challenge. "One thing you will need, though-"

She fished in a nearby locker and brought out a mask. "Breather mask. Don't know what kind of atmosphere we'll find on the Collector ship. Best to be careful."

"Careful's not really in my vocabulary," the Doctor said.

Shepard sighed. "Yeah, I'm getting that. But _take_ the goddamn mask, will you?"

It was a small enough thing to do, and the Doctor nodded, accepting the breather mask and tucking it into his pocket.

"Now, were you planning to bring your ship?" Shepard asked. "We're taking the Kodiak-" she jerked a thumb at the shuttle behind them "- and you're welcome to ride along, but I didn't know what you'd planned for the, ah-"

"TARDIS," the Doctor supplied helpfully, nodding in that direction.

Grunt peered at it incredulously. "That's a _ship_? That's barely bigger than my tank!"

"I'll show you around sometime, Grunt," the Doctor promised. "But, to answer your question - No. I do not plan to bring the TARDIS on board. Unknown alien vessel, best to leave it behind."

"Sensible," Garrus said with a nod. "That it, Shepard?"

"Just about," Shepard said, leading the group over to the shuttle and pulling the door open manually. She was first inside, followed by Grunt and Garrus.

"Do you fly the shuttle, Shepard?" the Doctor asked, climbing onboard.

"For something like this, where we're not going far from the Normandy, there's a VI that pilots it," Shepard replied. "Sometimes we need to have a person piloting - when we're landing on a planet, for example, and there's a couple of painfully young Lieutenants that drew that duty. I expect you'll meet them at some point."

"I'll go check the input for the VI," Garrus said, entering the cockpit.

The Doctor settled himself in a seat, and Shepard grabbed one of the overhead handholds. She waited for Garrus to come back and take a seat before she began speaking. "EDI's scans say that the Collector ship is deserted and powered down. Our primary objective is to get as much intel on the Collectors as possible."

"It's completely powered down?" Garrus said. "I'd love to know how the turians managed that."

"Maybe we'll find out," Shepard replied.

"If you wanted intel, why did you have me come?" Grunt asked.

"Because I don't trust this situation," Shepard said. "It seems a little too neat, which means that I want some firepower backing me up in case something goes wrong."

Grunt grinned. "Heh heh heh. That's more like it. I hope that Harbinger guy shows up. I'll tear _him_ to pieces."

"Harbinger?" the Doctor asked. Nothing in the information he'd received from Liara seemed to be appropriate.

"There's still a lot we don't understand about the Collectors," Shepard said. "But there's at least one who's, somehow, able to possess others of his kind. Make them more powerful. And he likes to taunt me. Tell me that they're the 'harbinger of our destruction'. That's why we call him Harbinger. Don't know if that's actually his name, or if he even has a name." She sighed. "He calls me by name and says he's going to tear me apart."

"That is quite personal," the Doctor replied. "Been there a few times. Never gets easier."

The shuttle slowed, maneuvering in for a landing. "Helmets on," Shepard directed. "Mask for the Doctor. We don't know what we're going to find out there."

That, the Doctor thought, might be one of the most obvious things ever uttered in his hearing.


	11. The Collector Ship, Part 1: Discoveries

_A/N: I'd like to thank my friends Craggidor and AudaciumLux for their beta efforts :)_

* * *

_2185  
__Disabled Collector Vessel_

The group exited the shuttle into a landscape of contradictions. At least, that was the Doctor's first impression. They were standing on a rocky, uneven floor that abruptly transitioned into a surface as smooth and black as obsidian. Up ahead, the smooth walls were bisected with rocky formations, and the ceiling looked … like the inside of a hive.

"Never seen a ship like this before," Grunt said, his cadence slowing slightly from his fast talk earlier. The young krogan was also in awe, it appeared.

"Looks like a giant hive," Garrus said, echoing the Doctor's thoughts. "Rachni, maybe?"

"The rachni are dead, aren't they?" the Doctor asked. "Except for-"

"The one queen, yeah," Shepard replied. "Ah. Before I forget." She pulled up her omni-tool and pushed a few buttons. "There. You're linked into our comms, Doctor. Try not to get lost."

"Thank you, Shepard," the Doctor said. They started moving forward into the ship.

EDI's voice came from the speakers on his omni-tool. "Penetrating scans have detected an access node to uplink with Collector databanks. Marking location to your hardsuit computer."

"Roger that, EDI," Shepard replied, pausing. "Okay. Grunt, got your shotgun ready?"

"Never without it," Grunt said. "Ready to burn some Collectors."

"Garrus, hang back and snipe anyone that looks like they're getting too close," Shepard said. "If we run into anything."

"Understood."

"Doctor … with me, I guess," Shepard said. "I can cover you if things get hot, and I suspect you'll have some insights to offer."

"I can handle myself, Shepard," the Doctor said, knowing that he sounded slightly petulant.

"If you'd carry a gun, I wouldn't be so insistent about it," Shepard replied. "Let's move out."

They took only a few more steps forward before EDI spoke again. "Shepard. I have compared the ship's EM signature to known Collector profiles. It is the vessel you encountered on Horizon."

"Maybe the defense towers softened it for the turians," Shepard said, continuing to move forward. The Doctor had to work to keep up with the pace she was setting.

"Maybe the missing humans are on it. Unless they're dead," Grunt said.

"Horizon?" the Doctor asked, looking around at the other three.

"Where we first saw Collectors in person," Garrus said. "A human colony that they were targeting. A ship - this ship, apparently - arrived to, well, collect the humans. The Alliance had recently installed defense turrets that we got working, and we chased the ship off." The turian sighed. "We weren't fast enough. They took about half the colony before we could do anything about it."

Shepard paused by something that was fused to - growing out of? - the floor, near one of the rocky walls. "Huh," Garrus said, coming up behind her. "These look like what the Collectors used on Horizon. Except they're empty."

The Doctor brought out his sonic screwdriver and activated it, the familiar green light tracing over the pod. Shepard watched him curiously. He held up the screwdriver and listened to the vibrations, watched the subtle shifts in the light. They likely thought he was just staring at it. "It's been empty for quite some time," the Doctor said. "Very minimal residual traces. Humans were in here, definitely."

"I guess that thing isn't so useless after all," Shepard said. "Let's keep moving."

The path forward took them through a doorway, and they could see the hallway curving off to the left. In the corner formed by the curving hallway was a pile of - something. They stopped to inspect a pile of dead bodies, each of them expressing disgust over what they saw, before moving on.

When Shepard said "keep moving", she really meant it, the Doctor thought as he walked - jogged, really - with her. The Doctor did his fair share of running, it was true, but he _wished_ he had the chance to really observe the ship. There was so much that he could find out. But Shepard seemed to want to get in and out as quickly as possible, and he supposed that was reasonable.

Shepard paused again at a row of pods interspersed with computer consoles. She walked up to one of the consoles and activated her omni-tool, presumably to interface with it. Garrus, still carrying his sniper rifle, leaned over and inspected one of the pods. "That's a Collector," he said, surprised. "Were they experimenting on one of their own?"

The Doctor joined him, bringing out his sonic screwdriver again and starting to take readings. The Collector's body fit with the general insect vibe they were all getting from this ship, a thick brown and gray exoskeleton with multiple small limbs. It had four eyes - two roughly where a human's would be, the other two set slightly back and above the larger set.

Shepard reached up to touch something on the side of her helmet. "EDI. I'm uploading the data from this terminal. See if you can figure out what they were up to."

"Data received," the Doctor heard. "Analyzing." He wasn't getting anything from the screwdriver yet, but he kept at it. He wanted to beat the computer to a useful answer, if possible.

"The Collectors were running baseline genetic comparisons between their species and humanity," EDI said. _Blast_.

"Collectors have a quad-strand genetic structure," the Doctor said, peering into the light of his sonic screwdriver. "Not that similar to humans. But- it's been tampered with. Extensive genetic rewriting. Someone was trying to achieve - what?"

"If the Collectors are working for the Reapers, that would make sense," Shepard said. "From what Vigil said back on Ilos-"

The Doctor's brain helpfully supplied him with images. Ilos. A dead world. They were chasing Saren (_rogue turian Spectre, working for Sovereign_), and his trail lead them there. Vigil was a Prothean VI. He remembered Liara's excitement when she heard that bit of information, though she'd been on the Normandy and hadn't gotten to interact with Vigil.

"- the Reapers often work through intermediaries, manipulating organics to get what they want, through indoctrination or - well, whatever," Shepard continued.

Another flash of images. His mother - no. Liara's mother, Benezia, cowering on the floor in a lab on Noveria, talking about being trapped inside her own mind, doing only Saren's will. The Doctor shuddered. Denial of free will was one of the things that _really_ made him angry.

"Shepard," EDI said. "I have their preliminary results. The quad-genetic structure is present in only one other race: the Protheans."

"My god," Shepard said slowly. "The Protheans didn't really vanish. They're working for the Reapers now."

"You said they work through intermediaries," the Doctor said. "After the last cycle, they kept the Protheans alive, manipulating them so that they could use them when galactic civilization grew again."

"What a horrible fate for them," Shepard said. "Twisted and turned into monsters. A final insult after losing to the Reapers."

"No species should have to suffer through that," Garrus agreed.

"The Reapers have much to answer for," the Doctor said, setting his mouth as he put the sonic screwdriver away.

"Let's find what we need before the Collectors come to inspect the vessel," Shepard continued.

The Doctor finally noticed that while he, Shepard, and Garrus had been inspecting the console and pod, Grunt had kept his shotgun out and positioned himself so that he could see down both corridors. At Shepard's words, he nodded - the only expression the Doctor could pick up through the hard masks all three were wearing - and took a step to the side to let Shepard take the lead again. In doing so, he apparently got a good look at something on the ground, because he put the shotgun away as he bent to look at it.

"A cache of weapons," Grunt said, looking up at Shepard as she walked over to see what had caught the krogan's attention. "Including my shotgun."

"Your shotgun is something special, then?" the Doctor asked.

"Humans can't handle it," Grunt said. "Would break their arms the first time they tried."

"_Ordinary_ humans," Shepard said, bending to look at the cache. "I'm not exactly ordinary any more."

"You might be able to handle the kickback," Grunt said, straightening up and taking his shotgun out again. "Don't know what it's doing here, but if I were you, I'd be taking it."

Shepard picked up the shotgun that was so interesting to her and Grunt and examined it. "Garrus, want an Eviscerator?" she asked lightly.

"Nah, I'll stick with my sniper rifle," Garrus said, flaring his mandibles in what the Doctor guessed was amusement. "I prefer shooting from a distance. They never-"

"See you coming," Shepard finished, chuckling. She handed the shotgun to Garrus while she unclipped one of her weapons from behind her back, emptying the ammo clip and leaving it in the pile. Garrus handed over the new shotgun and she loaded it, fiddling with a setting, before holding it out in front of her. "Let's move out."

As they moved forward, they were treated to the _delightful_ observation, from EDI, that many of the pods covering the ceiling contained humans, but there were no life signs. The Doctor looked up and tried to estimate how many humans had died on this vessel, and the number he came up with just made him even angrier.

The next time the silence was interrupted, it was by Joker. "Commander, you've gotta hear this," he said earnestly. "On a hunch, I asked EDI to run an analysis on this ship."

"I compared the EM profile against data recorded by the original Normandy two years ago," EDI said. "They are an exact match."

"So this is the ship that blew the first Normandy out of the sky," the Doctor said. "Can we call this a trap, yet?"

"This has definitely moved out of the realm of coincidence," Shepard agreed. "But we have to keep going. We don't have enough intel yet - and it _looks_ like we're still alone. Not saying I buy that, necessarily."

"We're right behind you, Shepard," Garrus said.

"It would be disappointing not to get to shoot something," Grunt added.

The Doctor finally got the difference between a Sontaran and a krogan. A Sontaran would never miss a war. A krogan would never miss a _fight_.

* * *

Shepard was decidedly unnerved by the time they got to a place where they could link up with EDI. To get to the platform with the control panel, they'd had to pass through a vast open area where the ceiling was filled with pods - too many for Shepard to even begin contemplating. The sense of wrongness had only increased with Grunt's observation that, aside from the one in the pod, they hadn't seen a single dead Collector. Unless their bodies magically vanished when they died (and Shepard hadn't observed that on Horizon) they _should_ have been there. The fact that they weren't was still more evidence that this was one big, giant trap.

And she was still walking into the middle of it.

Shepard holstered her new Claymore shotgun as she walked up to the command console, nodding to Garrus and Grunt to keep an eye out for trouble. The Doctor was by her side. He'd demonstrated his value here more than anywhere else, and she was hoping he'd have further insights to pass to her.

She touched the mic in her helmet. "EDI, we're at some sort of command console. I'm setting up a bridge-"

"Let me see what I can find, first," the Doctor said before she could finish the sentence. Shepard looked over at Garrus, who shrugged.

"All right. Stand by, EDI," Shepard said, stepping aside to let the Doctor inspect the console.

"Thank you, Shepard," the Doctor said, pulling out the - what was it again? Oh yeah, _sonic screwdriver_ - and doing … whatever it was the thing did.

"Right, you definitely should _not_ have EDI interface with this," the Doctor said after a minute.

"Why?" Grunt asked.

"It's a trap, isn't it?" Shepard asked with a sigh.

At that moment, the lights on the command console blinked out, and the tubes spaced along the stone walls began to slide - open? closed? Shepard couldn't quite tell.

"Yes, definitely a trap," the Doctor said. "They tried to hack my screwdriver. Hah. I'll show _them._" He picked it up, tossing it from one hand to the other, then bent over the command console and turned the screwdriver back on. "If I can just - disable that -"

"Company!" Garrus called, noticing movement behind him and swinging his sniper rifle around.

The platform they were on shuddered, and then lifted, starting to rotate away from the ground.

"Oh no you don't!" the Doctor said, gripping the screwdriver with both hands. "Come on- come _on-_"

The platform stopped, and then fell back into place with a hard _thud_ that had everyone falling to the ground.

"There," the Doctor said. "Won't move again." The platform groaned as it twisted to fit back in the space it had previously occupied.

"… won't move again after that."

"You sure about that?" Shepard asked indignantly.

"No, this time, it's staying put. Now, I have to clear the virus out of the system. Once that's done, it should be safe for EDI to interface with the databank." The Doctor looked over his shoulder to see another platform come flying in. "I think this is the part where you shoot things."

"Or knock them the hell over," Shepard said, expressing her anger and fear for only a moment before locking it down and preparing to fight. She ducked behind one of the platform's edges, Grunt right besides her. Garrus had retreated further back, but she noted he hadn't left the platform entirely.

"Don't let them get near the Doctor," she called to the two of them. "Garrus, try and pick off anyone with a barrier so that Grunt and I can finish them."

Shepard spared one moment to hope that the Doctor really did know what he was doing before her amp started humming and her entire body flared blue, charging forward and knocking one of the drones off the second platform. She followed the charge up with a shotgun blast to her right, hitting another drone. She heard a _thunk-thunk-thunk_ coming towards her, and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the Scion's blue blasts. _Damn._ Those things were hard to kill.

"Grunt, I'm going to take out the Scion, so keep the drones off of me," she yelled to the krogan, holstering her shotgun and pulling out the Collector weapon she'd grabbed on Horizon. She'd found it to be an effective weapon when she needed to take out something tough. Shepard took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself, waited for the next series of blasts from the Scion to pass, and then popped out of cover to click on the Collector beam and aim it at the Scion. The one time she'd been close enough to one of those to see it, she'd instantly regretted the sight - it looked like the Collectors had just jammed multiple husks together and added a blue bulbous covering at the 'shoulder'. It was a misshapen monster and it almost made her want to throw up. Luckily, she'd dealt with the battlefield gag reflex a long time ago.

Shepard kept shooting, ducking in and out of cover as needed, until the Scion fell over, at which point she switched back to her shotgun and tried to reassess the situation. Most of the drones were dead, but there were still a few-

"_ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL."_

_Shit. _Harbinger had decided to put in an appearance.


	12. The Collector Ship, Part 2: Harbinger

_2185  
__Disabled Collector Vessel_

The Doctor looked up from the battle he was waging against the Collector computer at the sound of someone other than Shepard, Garrus, or Grunt speaking. His mind cast back to what Shepard had said on the shuttle, about one of the Collectors possessing others. So, this was Harbinger. He needed to see this for himself.

He stood up, ignoring Garrus' yelp of "Get _down!_" and strode forward.

"Doctor! What the hell do you think you're _doing_?!" Shepard shouted.

"_AH. THE ONE CALLED THE DOCTOR IS HERE."_

The Doctor looked at the Collector who was now Harbinger, who seemed to glow from within as though he was about to explode, jagged cracks of orange-yellow light seeping through his exoskeleton. "So. _You've_ heard of me."

"_YOUR ARRIVAL WAS ANTICIPATED."_

"Which means that you can somehow see through the rift, hmm? Or did you create it?" the Doctor asked, striding forward confidently, continuing to ignore the shouts from the others. He knew what he was doing. Probably. "From what I understand, it might not be outside of your capabilities. You live in dark space outside the galaxy - what've you found in the fifty thousand years since you killed the Protheans?"

"_WE DID NOT CREATE THE RIFT. WE MERELY FOUND WHAT WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE."_

"So you wipe out this universe, as you've done before, and then move onto the next one? Is that your plan?" The Doctor came to the edge of the platform that the others were on, looking up at the platform Harbinger was standing on. He was surrounded by dead Collectors and something that looked absolutely _monstrous_, and that was saying something given what else he'd seen and heard today.

"He's not shooting. Why isn't he shooting?" the Doctor heard Garrus ask, from behind him.

"I don't know, but keep your head down," Shepard hissed through her teeth. "And your voice, too!"

_"THE NEXT ONE, AND ALL ONES AFTER THAT. ALL ORGANICS WILL KNOW THEIR DESTINY. ALL ORGANICS IN ALL UNIVERSES."_

"And what destiny would that be?" the Doctor asked, shouting. "What do you _want_? Why collect these humans? Why do _any_ of this? Why is it that you feel the need to wipe out species every fifty thousand years?"

_"YOU DO NOT YET COMPREHEND YOUR PLACE IN THINGS."_

"Right. So you're not going to answer, then." The Doctor was starting to feel frustrated. It was to be expected, but he wished he could have gotten more. They _always_ gave nonsensical answers.

_"YOU CANNOT STOP US."_

"Oh, really?" The Doctor stepped up onto the edge of the platform, glaring at the thing's face. "You just _watch_ me." He lifted his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at Harbinger, hearing it charge up.

_"DESTROYING THIS BODY GAINS YOU NOTHING. WE WILL MEET AGAIN, DOCTOR."_ The Collector body exploded outwards from where the light was seeping through, motes falling into the abyss below. The Doctor couldn't tell if it had been from his screwdriver, or if Harbinger had just … self-destructed.

He hopped backwards onto the platform's floor and looked over at Shepard, who was standing and holstering her shotgun. "That was … interesting," she said.

"You could say that," the Doctor replied. "He knew me."

"Yeah," Shepard said, nodding. "I wonder how." She looked back at the control console. "Did you disable the - virus? Or whatever it was?"

"I think so." The Doctor touched his omni-tool. "EDI. This is the Doctor, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can," EDI replied. "Are you ready to establish the link?"

The Doctor held out his omni-tool, marveling for a moment at how it glittered just above his skin, then squinted at the buttons. "Ah…"

"Let me," Shepard said, bringing up her omni-tool. "Setting up a bridge."

A hologram of what the Doctor supposed was EDI's chosen form came into existence over the console. "Data mine in progress," EDI said. "The Doctor has successfully eliminated the Reaper virus. I have control. Thank you, Doctor." She paused, then spoke again. "Shepard, I found the turian distress call that served as the lure for this trap. The Collectors were the source. It is unusual."

"Well, it's obvious that the initial message was bait," Shepard said. The Doctor saw Garrus and Grunt coming to stand besides her. "What's unusual about that?"

"Turian emergency channels have secondary encryption," EDI said, and Garrus nodded at that. "It is corrupted in the message. It is not possible that the Illusive Man would believe the distress call was genuine."

"What makes you so sure about that?" the Doctor asked, putting both his hands on the console and leaning forward to stare at the hologram.

"I found the anomaly with Cerberus detection protocols. He wrote them."

"He knew it was a trap?" the Doctor heard Joker say, over the turian and krogan curses coming from behind him. "Why would he send us into a trap?"

Shepard's face hardened - the Doctor thought that if the man in question had been in front of them, she might have tried to kill him barehanded. "That _son _of a _bitch._ I _knew_ we couldn't trust him. He's got a lot to answer for once we get back to the Normandy."

"Shepard. The Collector ship is powering up," EDI said. "I recommend returning to the Normandy. I have found data about the Omega-4 relay, which I will share upon your return."

"Get out of there before their weapons come online!" Joker said.

"Don't need telling twice," Shepard said intently, pulling out her shotgun. "Double time, people!"

"Sending coordinates for shuttle extraction," EDI said. "I will do what I can to assist."

"Is there anything I can-" the Doctor stared to say, before he was interrupted by Grunt, who grabbed him by the arm and started hauling him along.

"Shepard said _move_," the krogan … grunted. "Can't move and help at the same time."

"Grunt, that's enough," Shepard said, and Grunt reluctantly released the Doctor. "He got the message."

The Doctor glared at Grunt, who was already moving forward, and sprinted after the group.

"Around the corner. Take the door on your right," he heard EDI say through his omni-tool as he caught up to Shepard. She had her shotgun out again and was scanning the area. They came down an incline into an open area just as the Collectors did, flying in from some unknown height to land and start shooting at the party. The Doctor jumped out of the way just in time to avoid one of those beam weapons Shepard had brought out earlier. As he got to his feet, he saw Shepard start glowing bright blue. And then-

She simply wasn't there any more. The Doctor yelled, but then saw that her path had taken her directly _in_ to one of the Collectors, knocking it over. Some sort of biotic trick, then.

The yell had drawn the attention of one of the Collectors, who shot at him, and the Doctor ducked, fumbling at his omni-tool, trying desperately to remember what Mordin had shown him-

He saw a curving beam of orange light leaving a trail in the air, sailing right over the Collector's head. Well, at least he'd gotten something out of it. The Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and pointed it at the Collector, but it was already dead by someone else's hand. He looked around and saw that they were all dead.

"Keep moving!" Shepard yelled at him before ejecting a clip and moving down the corridor, once again forcing the Doctor to sprint to keep up. Bullets started flying as soon as they entered the next open area, with Collectors coming from the air as well as the other entrance. _This_ time, he would see what the sonic screwdriver could do to a Collector.

—

Shepard had no time to see how the Doctor was doing. She barely had time to give instructions to Grunt and Garrus, settling for giving a nod to Grunt as he settled in behind the low edge across from hers. "Focus fire," she called to the krogan before standing up and shooting at one of the drones - noticing that Grunt was shooting at the same drone, which showed he'd gotten the message. Good.

One of the Collectors staggered backwards, a faint glow vanishing, and she knew that Garrus was following her instructions from earlier. She and Grunt followed through, filling the Collector full of shotgun pellets - flaming ones, in Grunt's case.

"Cover me!" she shouted to Grunt, and felt her amp start to hum. An instant later she was knocking over a Collector, blasting it with the Claymore to make sure it _stayed_ down. She looked off to her left and to her astonishment, saw the Doctor there, up a small rise. He was behind a wall, at least, but still too exposed for Shepard's liking. He had his screwdriver out in front of him, both hands on it, pointed at a Collector. Shepard heard a high-pitched whine and the Collector dropped his gun. Shepard tracked the gun and saw that it was smoking.

_Huh._ She had little time to ponder this new development, except to register that he wouldn't need to be watched quite as much anymore. Instead, she shot the now-defenseless Collector before moving on to the next one.

Then, from in front of her-

_"ASSUMING CONTROL OF THIS FORM."_

Harbinger was back.

—

The Doctor was pleased that he'd been able to do something with the sonic screwdriver. Under different circumstances, he'd be turning around and trying to find another way out, except that EDI was already doing her best to give them a path of least resistance and there likely _was_ no other way out. He was trying not to think too hard about the number of bullets his new allies were using. It wasn't as though they were shooting defenseless civilians - this was an alien race that was not interested in negotiation or compromise. He destroyed Daleks all the time.

… _Except that when the other you blew them all up, you called him a genocidal lunatic._

_Let's continue this argument when we're not in mortal danger._

_"DIRECT INTERVENTION IS NECESSARY."_

Ah. Harbinger had chosen to make another appearance. The Doctor wondered if his little trick earlier had actually been effective, or if Harbinger had simply chosen to retreat after delivering his threats. He decided he would try to answer that question, pointing the sonic screwdriver at Harbinger. He saw Harbinger's weapon start smoking, and Harbinger wheeled its head around to look at the Doctor. The smoke evaporated as though it had never been there.

_"THIS IS WHAT YOU FACE, DOCTOR."_

Harbinger's right arm moved, and a shimmering ball of light came hurtling at the Doctor, knocking him backwards. He hit the wall with a hard thud and shook his head as he got back on his feet. He pointed the sonic screwdriver at Harbinger again - to no effect.

_"YOUR ATTACK IS AN INSULT."_

"You're making this personal," the Doctor said between deep gasps. "You really don't want to do that. I am the Oncoming Storm. I am the _last_ person in the universe you want as an enemy."

_"THIS IS NOT YOUR UNIVERSE. IT IS OURS. YOU CANNOT STOP US."_

"You said that already," the Doctor replied. "I'm still here." He pocketed the sonic screwdriver - reluctantly - and brought up his omni-tool-laden left arm. He shot off a flash of orange light at the same time that Harbinger unleashed another of those shimmering balls, and the Doctor fell to the floor again.

_"PITIFUL."_ Harbinger's voice was getting closer. The Doctor tried to struggle to his feet, and failed. _No. It doesn't end here. It can't. It just … can't._

Something bright and blue flew over the Doctor's head - Shepard. Through barely opened eyes, the Doctor saw Harbinger stagger back. Shepard brought her shotgun around to blast Harbinger, then began to glow blue again.

_"THIS CHANGES NOTHING, SHEPARD."_ The body that Harbinger had been holding disintegrated into nothing again. The Doctor sagged against the floor.

"Hang on, Doctor," Shepard said, pressing her omni-tool to his side. All at once he felt heat and warmth racing through him, his pain gone, his energy restored. Shepard's omni-tool disappeared and she offered him her hand, which the Doctor took.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Medi-gel," Shepard said. "It's universal. Works on every species in the galaxy. Mordin forwarded your scan data to my omni-tool."

"I … thank you, Shepard," the Doctor said.

"Don't do something stupid like that again," Shepard said, her voice turning steely. "Harbinger knocks _me_ on my ass, and I'm _wearing armor._"

"No promises," the Doctor said, offering her a smile. Shepard just sighed and dropped his hand.

"Let's go before they show up again."

Naturally, there was another group waiting for them right after EDI tried to help them by opening a door. The Doctor saw something hovering above the ground, moving towards them - it almost looked like a manta ray, except that it clearly had a hard exoskeleton, and it had multiple legs dangling below its main body.

"Praetorian!" Garrus cried, a second before it shot a beam of energy directly towards the group. Everyone was in cover before they could get hurt, including the Doctor. He eyed the beam weapon that Shepard was bringing out. He'd disabled it before - it hadn't worked on Harbinger, who was clearly the boss here. So what if-

"Shepard. I want to try something."

Shepard eyed the sonic screwdriver skeptically. "Didn't that cause one of these to get set on fire before?"

"I was trying to disable it. I think I can also enhance it."

"Think, or know?" Shepard asked urgently. "It's the best thing I have to use against the Praetorian."

"Trust me, Shepard," the Doctor said softly. "Please."

Shepard reluctantly nodded. "All right. Quickly. The thing'll be on us any moment."

The Doctor ran a finger over the buttons of his sonic screwdriver. This one - no. The other one. Yes. If he tapped it just so-

The beam weapon in Shepard's hands glowed brightly. "Try it," he said to her.

Shepard listened before standing up and clicking the beam on. The Praetorian had moved closer - the Doctor could make out some of the detail on its 'face', the multiple eyes above - oh. There were _skulls_ there. Shepard fired.

The Praetorian exploded from its midsection out, blue light flooding the area as it screamed its death-cry. Pieces flew everywhere, limbs skittering across the floor, the head crushing an approaching humanoid - _a husk._

"Hahaha!" Grunt shouted. "Finally, that stupid thing of yours does something useful!" He blasted another husk that had come up near them, then turned and fired upon another one.

"That all of them?" Shepard asked.

"That's it," Garrus said, and without any further discussion, they moved towards the door that EDI had opened for them. They were silent as they ran through the hallways - the only sound the Doctor could hear was his hearts pumping at the excitement of everything that had happened. Up another ramp they went, and just as they rounded a corner, they saw more humanoids pouring in to the space they had just passed through.

"Run!" Shepard yelled, as the humanoids were joined by Collectors. The Doctor decided he didn't need to know if Harbinger was there, again, or not. Shepard spun around, shotgun firing rapidly, but the humanoids didn't seem to be deterred by the fact that they were approaching certain annihilation. Grunt fell back slightly to join her while Garrus and the Doctor ran ahead.

The Doctor heard Joker's voice from his omni-tool, only vaguely catching the words. Of course they were running out of time. He was _always _running out of time.

The screams from the humanoids - _husks_ - increased in pitch and volume, and the Doctor saw that he and Garrus were about to run into yet another group. Adrenaline lent him the focus that fear had not, and his left arm flew up, gleaming orange, to unleash a burst of flame. _Those poor creatures._ He wished he had another way, any other way, but there simply wasn't one. All he could do was acknowledge that they'd deserved better and keep moving. To his side, he saw Garrus switching the sniper rifle for something that proved to have a faster rate of fire. The Doctor's right hand went into his coat pocket, coming out with the sonic screwdriver. He wanted to see if it had any effect on these husks - they looked to have some sort of wiring, circuits, running through their bodies. _Synthetics_. That was the jargon of this universe.

The Doctor pointed the sonic screwdriver at one of the husks, and felt some satisfaction when the creature fell over, screaming in pain. The Doctor repeated the gesture - quickly felling a string of them, clearing a path for himself and Garrus to advance. Behind them, he heard footsteps. Garrus wheeled, then relaxed - and a moment later Shepard and Grunt joined them. The group moved forward quickly, the cries of husks behind them serving as a powerful impetus. That, and the knowledge that the ship was about to power up.

Finally, they reached the shuttle. The door opened for them as they approached it, practically throwing themselves inside. Shepard was the last one in, the door closing after her.

The Doctor looked out the window as the shuttle pulled away from the Collector ship, and for the first time he felt like he truly appreciated its magnitude. The Normandy was dwarfed next to the massive vessel, and it wasn't hard to see how it could have been blown out of the sky by one of these. The shuttle accelerated, maneuvering through space flotsam before entering the cargo bay.

"Strap in, people, going to make them work for it this time," Joker's voice came over the loudspeakers. Shepard was out and running as soon as the shuttle's door opened again. The Doctor was not in such a hurry, casting a glance over at his TARDIS, satisfying himself that all was as he'd left it. He followed Garrus and Grunt to the elevator.

"Where will she be?" he asked.

"I'd imagine she'll be going to the briefing room to speak to the Illusive Man," Garrus said. "It's on the second floor, behind the bridge." The turian paused. "You'll be wanting to join her?"

"Absolutely," the Doctor said. "I need to have a few words with him."


	13. Not Very Illuminating

_2185  
__Normandy SR-2_

Shepard didn't fully relax until she heard Joker and EDI confirming that they had successfully entered the mass relay and were getting the hell out of the system. Even then, some part of her was expecting that Collectors could (somehow) follow them through the relay and blast them on the other side. Which was completely ridiculous - but it was that kind of day.

She stalked towards the Briefing Room, not entirely sure when the Illusive Man would be available but having no real desire to do anything than pace, and stew, and wonder if it really was possible to flay someone alive with your mind - and if it was possible, the best way to do it.

Shepard plowed through the tech labs - Mordin didn't appear to have noticed her - and stopped short when she saw the Doctor leaning against one of the walls. He pushed himself up and gave her a tight smile. "Commander Shepard."

"Let me guess. You're looking to give the Illusive Man a piece of your mind as well," Shepard said.

"Indeed. I've got rather a lot of unanswered questions at this point." Shepard noticed that his jacket looked, somehow, none the worse for wear despite having been hit by Harbinger's biotic attack. Stupid thing to wonder about.

"So do I," Shepard said, sighing as she leaned back against the wall. "He's in the habit of not answering them fully. I'm betting that's not going to change."

"Call coming in from the Illusive Man, Commander," Joker said, and Shepard snapped up straight, preparing for action. "Figure you've got a few words for him. At the least."

"Thanks, Joker," Shepard said, and walked into the Briefing Room. The Doctor followed her, watching closely as Shepard pushed the button that sank the table into the floor, bringing up the holographic transmitter for the QEC. She walked forward and heard the scans kick in, turning to gesture the Doctor forward. "This is the way he prefers to communicate. I've never actually met him in person. As far as I know, Miranda's the only one who has."

"I'll be wanting to change that, at some point," the Doctor commented as he stepped up besides her. His expression flashed to wonder for a moment as he bent, inspecting the machinery. "Full-body holographic scans. Interesting."

The scans kicked in, and Shepard was once again virtually transported to the Illusive Man's office. It was somewhat unfair, she thought, that she'd never been there in person. The view was spectacular, as one might expect from the office of a man with a god complex and virtually unlimited resources. It had a direct view of whatever dying star the base was orbiting, the surface a constantly changing mix of burnished orange and steel blue.

"Shepard." The Illusive Man's gaze flicked to the man standing beside her. "And the Doctor, I presume. I'm glad you decided to help."

"The Illusive Man," the Doctor replied, folding his arms across his chance in an - unconscious? - echo of Shepard's own stance. "You have much to illuminate."

"Been saving that one?" the Illusive Man asked, a hint of humor in his voice as he took a drag on his cigarette.

"Yes, actually. But!" The Doctor raised a hand. "Besides the point. You _found _me. You _knew_ of me. No one else in this universe does, except the being called Harbinger. I'd like to know _how."_

Shepard had questions - accusations - but she felt no need to interrupt the Doctor, bull-rushing over him with her own fury. To be frank, she wanted answers to those questions as well, given what she'd learned about where the Doctor came from.

"Legends. Rumors. I was half-convinced I was chasing a ghost until I got you on the phone," the Illusive Man replied. "I was putting out feelers for anyone that might be able to help Shepard - and got stories of you that I couldn't corroborate, which I found fascinating. Stories of you being present during many of the pre-spaceflight conflicts, but nothing in the actual record. The conspiracy theories from the twenty-first century mention a benevolent alien who fits the description of you I found in other sources. But the stories that fascinated me the most came from _other _races. You were seen on Rannoch, before the quarians created the geth. On Tuchanka and Khar'shan, where humans are generally not welcome."

"Really," the Doctor said, keeping his voice even. Having been to Tuchanka and talked to a few batarians, Shepard wasn't surprised that a sighting of the Doctor on those worlds was big news. And he'd been seen on Rannoch? Shepard wondered if that had anything to do with Tali. "I'm not convinced that all of those stories happened in _this_ universe."

The Illusive Man frowned. "I'm afraid you've lost me."

"I mean that I'm from a parallel universe," the Doctor said, continuing to pace. "I came here through a rift in time and space. In my universe, there are plenty of stories that are similar to what you've mentioned - but I've only been _here_ since your call telling me to go to Illium." He paused, narrowing his eyes at the Illusive Man. "How'd you find me, anyways?"

"I had Cerberus scanning for unknown alien tech to try and pick up Collector signatures," the Illusive Man replied. "Your - ship - came up during one of those scans. I connected the dots. Gave you a call."

The Doctor frowned, starting to pace again, his lips taut.

The Illusive Man inhaled on his cigarette and shifted his gaze to Shepard, taking the Doctor's silence as a cue to change topics."EDI sent me the preliminary data you extracted from the ship - with the Doctor's help. It looks quite interesting."

Shepard looked over her shoulder to see that the Doctor had halted the pacing, standing at the edge of the holographic field. He gave her the slightest of nods, and she squared her shoulders as she turned to face the Illusive Man. "EDI told us the distress call originated from the Collectors," she said angrily. "You betrayed us."

"We're at war. The Collectors are taking humans, and every minute we waste is one more we give the enemy to prepare," the Illusive Man said firmly.

"I _know_ the stakes," Shepard said, exasperated. Didn't she hear it all the time? Didn't she _say_ it all the time? "But we're supposed to be on the same side. How can I trust you if you feed me what you know is bad information, and it leads us into a trap?"

"Yes, it was a trap, but I was confident in your abilities," the Illusive Man replied, standing up to look Shepard squarely in the eye. "And you had EDI and the Doctor to help. The Collectors weren't anticipating them."

"Except that they knew me," the Doctor said, re-entering the conversation. "Harbinger noted that my arrival was _anticipated_."

"Maybe they found the same rumors I did," the Illusive Man said. "Or maybe they somehow saw through to your universe. They've been around for hundreds of millions of years." He waved a hand. "That's besides the point. You made it out."

"It was an unnecessary risk, not telling me," Shepard said. "There are always alternatives."

"You may not like being on the receiving end - neither would I - but the facts," the Illusive Man said, pacing slightly, "are with me. Besides, the decision paid off. EDI confirmed our suspicions." He sat down and lit another cigarette, inhaling on it before continuing. "The Reapers and Collector ships use an advanced Identify Friend/Foe system that the relays recognize. All we need to do is get our hands on one of those IFFs."

Shepard resisted the urge to snap that they'd just _left_ a Collector ship that had one of those. EDI might be fast, but she'd been multitasking quite a bit to help them get off the ship. "I'm guessing," she said, keeping her voice firm, "that you have a plan."

"There's a science team working on a derelict Reaper as we speak. You'll find your IFF there."

"Where is this derelict Reaper?" Shepard asked, suspiciously.

"An Alliance science team recently determined that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon," the Illusive Man said. He paused to pick up his drink and take a sip. "A _very_ old mass accelerator. I sent a team to find either the weapon or its target. They found both. The weapon was defunct, but it helped us plot the flight path of the intended target - a 37 million year old derelict Reaper. We found it damaged and trapped in the gravity of a brown dwarf."

"Have the scientists found anything that might look like an IFF?" Shepard asked.

The Illusive Man sighed. "We … lost contact with Dr. Chandana's team shortly after they boarded."

"Great," Shepard said. "I have to go clean up another mess."

"We need that IFF, Shepard."

"I heard you," Shepard replied, uncrossing her arms and stepping back. "And I agree."

The Illusive Man nodded. "I'll forward the coordinates to Joker. In the meantime, I _suggest_ you tell your crew that I didn't risk their lives unnecessarily." He looked over at the Doctor again. "It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can speak again soon."

"Don't count on it," the Doctor said. "I'm staying for Shepard, not you. In fact-" he strode forward, his face set into an iron-hard expression, "when this is all over, when we make it back from the Collector homeworld - I'm coming for you. Cerberus will not stand when I'm through with it."

_Funny thing, _Shepard thought as she looked between the two of them. _He doesn't look so ridiculous now. I think I believe him._ She had no objection to that, as it was running along lines of thought she'd had herself.

"You'll find I'm not easily intimidated," the Illusive Man said. "Or defeated. I _would_ say give it your best shot, Doctor, except that what I'm doing is too important to be derailed by anyone. We're not enemies."

"Oh, yes we are," the Doctor said.

The Illusive Man sighed. "Now, that's a shame. It would have been a privilege to work with you." He looked at Shepard. "Get me that IFF, Shepard."

Shepard turned around, exiting the holographic interface, hearing it power down behind her. When she heard the familiar sounds that told her the interface was deactivated and the Illusive Man was no longer listening in real time, she looked up at the ceiling. "EDI, tell the crew to assemble. We've got a lot to talk about."

"Of course, Shepard," EDI said.

* * *

The Doctor stayed for the meeting, even though it turned out to be a lot of talking (and arguing) in circles. Predictably, there were those who wanted to push forward and get this IFF now, and those who argued that they should wait. And just as predictably, the decision was left to Shepard, who seemed to be choosing caution for now, making their next destination the Citadel instead of this derelict Reaper. Apparently there were errands that Garrus and Thane (one of the other people they'd picked up on Illium, the Doctor remembered) had to run.

The conversation with the Illusive Man had been … interesting. Either the Illusive Man was wrong about his sources - and as much as he continued to despise the man on principle, evidence suggested he _was_ good at what he did - or the Doctor was due to have some adventures on Rannoch, Tuchanka, and Khar'shan in the future. He'd managed to get ahead of himself, again. Not that surprising. It also suggested that he _would_ eventually be able to travel through time here.

"Harbinger said that they didn't create the rift," he said to the empty TARDIS. "I can't see the Illusive Man having done so, either. I don't think anything in this universe can. So where did it come from, and why did it open?"

He heard a tentative knock at the TARDIS door, followed by Tali's voice. "Doctor?"

"Just a minute, Tali'Zorah," he replied, walking over to the door. The quarian engineer walked inside, slowly, looking around at the interior of the TARDIS. She was followed by Mordin, and the salarian's mouth dropped open.

"Bigger … on the inside," Mordin said. "_How_ big?"

"Very," the Doctor said, instantly in a better mood. He'd been waiting for Mordin to come onboard. He knew a kindred spirit when he saw one. "There's a library, and a swimming pool, among other rooms."

"_Library_?" Mordin asked, swiveling his head, his wide eyes as wide as they could go. "Books from … other times and places? _Science_ books?"

"Yes, and yes," the Doctor said, grinning broadly. "I'm still not quite up on where your technology is - but no two universes are alike, so I'm sure there's something you can learn from me. If _you_ have any understanding of the mass relays -"

Mordin shook his head regretfully. "No. Never been able to build new mass relay, ever. Possible STG is working on it, somewhere, but -" he inhaled sharply "-out of loop." He was still walking around, on his second - third? - lap of the console room.

"The Conduit was a prototype mass relay built by the Protheans," Tali said. "That's the newest mass relay we know about - and it was destroyed after we went through it in the Mako." She shook her head. "If I never ride in a land vehicle with Shepard again, it will be too soon."

_Conduit. Ilos_. The memories flashed into place, easier this time after the mention of Ilos back on the Collector vessel.

"Still," the Doctor said, trying to think it through, "your scientists must have some understanding of them."

"Some, yes. But not -" Mordin inhaled sharply again, in what the Doctor was beginning to suspect was a verbal tic- "enough. Biologist, myself. Diseases, countermeasures. Not physicist." He paused in front of the typewriter and extended one finger to touch a key. "Purpose of this-?" he inquired.

"Just for fun," the Doctor said.

Mordin pressed the key, looking surprised when it retracted. He squinted at the area above the typewriter. "Old-fashioned. No screen." He pressed another button, and then, a smile split the salarian's face - more literally than in some other species - as he began mock-typing. "No idea of output. But -" another sharp inhale- "Fun."

Tali, taking the Doctor's encouragement of Mordin as tacit permission, moved one of the puzzle joysticks around. "Seems like a lot of this is for fun," she said. "Or does that really dispense water?" She jerked her head at the faucet.

"No, you're right about that," the Doctor said. "She likes to surprise me sometimes, the TARDIS does."

Tali leaned back on the console and looked up at the arching ceiling. "You said that your ship was _alive_. How is that possible?"

The Doctor started pacing around the console room as he considered how to reply. "You understand, I'm not an expert on TARDISes." It killed him to have to admit it, but he was dealing with two of the more intelligent people he'd encountered recently - not only that, but Tali was an expert on ships. He wanted to give them a complete picture. Maybe they'd be able to offer useful commentary. He was _always_ looking for ways to keep his TARDIS healthy.

Well, except for turning the brakes off like River had. He _liked_ the sounds. Made things more exciting.

"But my people found that a computer couldn't handle the complex, reality-warping stress that comes with gallivanting about through time and space. I've … spoken … to my TARDIS. Once. And she indicated that she has some free will of her own. She said that she chose me because she wanted to see the galaxy. And, well, running about is what I do. She's a consciousness that lives inside my ship."

"Like EDI," Tali said. "Except that EDI's an artificial intelligence."

Mordin rested one hand under his chin. "Would be interesting to see if EDI could pilot TARDIS."

"Well, there's only one of them, and I'm not letting her in my TARDIS," the Doctor said peevishly.

Mordin looked disappointed, but nodded. "Engine?" he inquired, craning his head back to look up at the center of the console.

The Doctor nodded. "We can take her for a spin, if you'd like."

Mordin's face split with a smile, again, but his expression fell when Tali spoke up. "Actually, Shepard asked me to - that is, she thought you'd like to see the Citadel while we're there, and that you'd prefer our company to anyone else on the ship."

"Can't have the stranger wandering off without an escort," the Doctor murmured. "All right, Tali'Zorah. I would be delighted to see the sights of the Citadel with you and Professor Solus."

"Presidium is quite impressive," Mordin said with a decisive nod. "If didn't know better, could almost believe it was on planet, not space station."

"Shepard said she'd tell us when we exited the mass relay," Tali said. "She also suggested you might want to come up and see the approach. I'd say it's worth seeing."

"View - " Mordin inhaled sharply- "spectacular."

"Well. When you put it like that, how can I refuse?" The Doctor said, grinning broadly.


	14. Interrupted R&R

_A/N: I apologize for this one taking longer than usual. Writer's block sucks. T__hank you all for your support and feedback!_

* * *

_2185  
__Citadel/Widow Nebula_

The Doctor was grinning like a child with a new toy as they exited the Normandy, moving slowly as he took in the sights of the Citadel. Shepard, Garrus, and Thane had taken off first, presumably going to speak to their C-Sec contact Commander Bailey.

Tali could sympathize with the Doctor. She remembered her first time on the Citadel - a completely foreign environment to a child of the flotilla. The tall, open spaces of the Presidium had almost given her vertigo, and she hadn't believed the diversity of plants that were there - just _there_ because someone thought they would look pretty, not because they served any purpose. The walls were pristine and shining; completely free from graffiti, stains, and overgrown plants. The inner workings of the Citadel were behind those pristine walls, not out where they could be easily accessed when something went wrong (because that happened fairly frequently on a quarian ship). Zakera Ward, where they were right now, was not quite as majestic and put her more in mind of a quarian ship, noisy and cluttered - but it was still far too neat and clean overall. The number of people on the Citadel - all these different races in _one_ place - was just a few million less than the entire quarian race. It made Tali aware of how tenuous her own species' place in the galaxy was.

Then, there were the aliens. She'd only seen other races in vids, in what she recognized now was a highly dramatized fashion. She could still remember, acutely, the fascination at viewing a large, lumbering elcor in person, and then seeing a hanar just floating there, like it was a null gravity environment. She remembered the burning shame and fear she'd felt when the turian at the embassy had turned her away - he wasn't anything like the virtuous turians portrayed in _Fleet and Flotilla_.

But without that turian turning her away, she might never have met Shepard. And she wouldn't trade her time on the Normandy for anything. So it had all worked out, even if it had been rough flying to get there. Then again - for three hundred years, quarians hadn't known anything but rough flying.

"Where to, first?" Mordin inquired. Tali hadn't been sure about the salarian at first, but once she understood him, she'd grown to like him. He'd given her a few helpful tips for improving her suit and omni-tool, and she'd repaid him by giving him some information about the flotilla. Nothing too sensitive, but information that wasn't widely available.

"Is there a gift shop?" the Doctor asked. "I love gift shops."

"You'll need to go through screening," Tali said. "They've tightened security since Sovereign's attack. I'm not sure what they'll make of you."

The Doctor pulled out a small item from his jacket pocket - it looked like some sort of ID card in a plastic covering - and held it up to Tali. "Tell me," he said, "what you see there."

Tali frowned, but read the text on the ID card. "Keelah!" she said, startled. "It says you're … special adviser to _my father_. How did you do that?" She paused. "That's still not going to get you very far. The quarians aren't respected here."

"Mordin," the Doctor said, holding up the paper to the salarian, "tell me what _you_ read."

The salarian squinted, then his eyes opened wide. "Special consultant for STG," he said slowly. "Top secret clearance. Full access."

"Psychic paper," the Doctor said, closing the flap. "Says what I want it to say - or need to say - to get what I want. Saves a lot of trouble."

"So, if we get stopped by someone, that will say that you're someone important enough to not be bothered with," Tali said.

"Precisely," the Doctor replied.

"Shepard encountered issue during first visit to Citadel. Had to get it straightened out. Psychic paper may not be enough," Mordin said, tapping his chin.

"Are you always such a downer, Mordin?" the Doctor asked.

"Simply pointing out likely obstacle. No reason obstacle can't be circumvented," Mordin replied, smiling slightly. "Seem to be good at that."

The Doctor just smirked, that self-satisfied all-knowing expression he'd worn a lot since coming onto the Normandy. Tali wondered if that was going to become annoying at some point.

The trio walked forward towards the Zakera Ward entrance, passing through security. Sure enough, the turian guarding the entrance held up a hand as he examined the scanner. "You're not registered," he said to the Doctor. "You'll need to speak with Captain Bailey, just on the other side, and he'll get you in the system."

"Maybe you should mention Shepard," Tali said as they walked forward. "He's been helping her."

"Let's see where the psychic paper gets me," the Doctor said in an undertone as they walked up to Bailey's desk.

"Ah. Doctor Solus," Bailey said with a nod. "Good to see you again. Shepard just walked through here."

"Just sight-seeing today," Mordin said. "Maybe make some purchases."

"Playing tourist, hmm? Well, have fun," Bailey said. "And Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema," Tali corrected, somewhat irritably.

"My apologies," Bailey said. "I'll update that now. And who's the third member of your party? He didn't show up on any databases."

"I wouldn't," the Doctor said, squaring his shoulders in a very Shepard-like gesture. Tali couldn't tell if it was a deliberate imitation or not. He held out the psychic paper for Bailey's inspection.

Tali had learned to read human expressions since coming on the Normandy, so she could tell that Bailey was shocked by what he saw there. "Terribly sorry, sir," he said, the words stuttering out. "No one told me."

"That's all right," the Doctor replied cheerfully, putting the psychic paper away. "It was a test, and you passed, er,"

"Captain," Mordin supplied in an undertone.

"Captain," the Doctor said, nodding. "Carry on."

Bailey saluted them as they walked off. Tali gave the Doctor a sidelong glance. "What did that say, anyways?"

The Doctor pulled the psychic paper back out and examined it. "Says I'm the special undercover agent of Executor Pallin. Who would that be?"

"The head of C-Sec," Tali said. "Citadel Security."

"Paper shows authority that subject respects most?" Mordin asked. At the Doctor's nod, he continued. "Interesting that Councilor Anderson was not that authority."

"He's far more likely to upset the Executor than the Councilor," Tali said thoughtfully.

"Hm. True." Mordin nodded.

"Where to first, Doctor?" Tali asked.

The Doctor cast a glance around, still appearing to be drinking in all the details, then clapped his hands together. "And the gift shop is right by the entrance!"

"Of course," Mordin said, sounding amused. "Makes it easier to part tourists from money."

The Doctor patted his pockets. "Money. What _do_ people use for money? I never seem to have any."

Tali looked over at Mordin. It was in situations like this where she most wished she could use facial expressions, because a lifetime of pinching pennies made her extremely reluctant to voluntarily give up her 'pocket money' - even if Shepard would find some way to pay back Tali.

"My treat," Mordin said brightly. Tali suspected his mind was running along a similar vein. Or maybe that was just quarian values talking.

"Thank you, Mordin," the Doctor said as they moved towards the aforementioned gift shop.

The asari who greeted them directed them towards the purchase terminal. The Doctor's mouth quirked in a smile as his hand hovered over one of the entries. "Space hamster?" he asked.

"Many of our customers spend a long time aboard ships, sometimes with minimal company," the asari said. "The space hamster was bred to thrive on a shipboard environment, and to interact with its owner."

"I'll take one," the Doctor said enthusiastically, before looking over at Mordin.

The salarian paused, shrugged, and then authorized the transaction.

"And to what ship should this be delivered?" the asari asked.

"The Normandy," Tali said.

"Oh! I'll bundle it with the other order for the Normandy," the asari said. "Someone from there bought all our model spaceships."

Tali perked up at that. She'd have to go to Shepard's cabin to see the collection. "Thank you," she said, more enthusiastically than she'd intended.

"Have a pleasant day!" the asari said as they turned to leave.

"Any other shops you want to visit?" Tali asked. "I usually stop at Saronis Applications. They have the best software."

"Sirta Supplies. Biomedical retailer," Mordin said.

"Thank you both for your recommendations," the Doctor said. "But what I'd like to see right now is the Presidium. If I'm allowed to drag you about in such a manner."

"It's rare that Shepard gives us the time to just relax off the Normandy," Tali said. "A lot of the time, even if we're not on missions, we're supposed to be at a state of readiness. In and out in no time, since we never know what to expect. But the Citadel is - as safe as anywhere, these days. Shepard's still a Spectre, even if the Council maintains deniability about her actions. No one on the Citadel would dream of giving a Spectre trouble." She looked over at the Doctor. "So, no, I don't mind wandering about. Especially since Shepard told us to do this with you. So really, we're just following orders from our commander."

"Would never dream of disobeying Shepard's orders," Mordin said. "Consequences -" the sharp inhale, again- "unpleasant."

"So she's a hard woman," the Doctor said slowly.

"Trying to figure the Commander out, Doctor?" Tali asked.

"She's still - contradictory," the Doctor said.

"I can see where you'd think that," Tali said, and decided to open up a little bit. "She's hard because she has to be. She's the only person who even has a hope of doing something about the Reapers. And not enough people believe her, which makes her job even harder. But she was always kind to me. She was the first person to treat me as anything resembling an equal. She offered me a place on her ship and her team. Listened to what I had to say. She's my friend as well as my commander." She was blushing underneath her helmet for having gushed about Shepard that way, but it was all true. The only saving grace she felt was at knowing she wasn't the only one on board the Normandy to think that.

"And you, Mordin?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at the salarian.

"Shepard found me on Omega. Was working in clinic there. Plague unleashed by Collectors." Mordin shook his head. "Nasty business. Killed all species except humans and vorcha. Found cure right before Shepard arrived. Stopping Collectors-" he inhaled sharply - "worthy goal. Cerberus throwing money at project. Latest equipment, weapons. Fully stocked lab. Freedom to pursue projects." Mordin paused and brought a hand up to rest on his chin. "Still working on cure for Joker's condition." He dropped the hand. "Shepard helped with … personal matter. Former student of mine. Engaged in … questionable activities. Found him. Stopped him from hurting anyone else." He nodded. "No question of following Shepard now. Didn't have to help me. Did it anyways."

"So everyone has some degree of personal loyalty towards Shepard?" the Doctor asked.

Tali thought back to the recent trips they'd taken. "Both Miranda and Jacob do, now, I'm pretty sure. It didn't take much for Grunt to decide that Shepard is more krogan than a krogan. Jack stopped swearing _quite_ so much at Shepard after they took that trip to Pragia, or so I'm told-" she looked over at Mordin, who nodded in confirmation. "And she's running errands for Garrus and Thane today. Not that Garrus really needs it. He's like me - been there from the beginning."

"Not quite," Mordin said in a musing tone. Both Tali and the Doctor looked at him, but he offered no other explanation.

"Sorry, who's Jack?" the Doctor asked after a moment. "Don't think I've met him yet."

"Her," Tali corrected. "She's a human biotic. And …" she groped for something _reasonably_ polite to say. Jack was crazy, no doubt about that, but she was also on _their_ side.

"Mental issues," Mordin supplied. "Experimented on to improve biotic potential. Tortured. Cerberus - responsible."

The Doctor's face darkened noticeably. Tali wondered just how long it would take for either him or Shepard to crack and go after the Illusive Man personally.

By this time, they had walked back to the C-Sec outpost. Tali looked over to see Garrus standing there, arms crossed, an amused expression on his face while a human shouted at Captain Bailey. "What's going on?" she asked him.

"Shepard and Thane are questioning some guy who has information on Thane's son," Garrus said in an undertone. "That's his lawyer."

"He doesn't look happy," Tali said.

"Apparently the guy pays Bailey to avoid situations like this," Garrus said. "Things have changed since my days in C-Sec."

One of the doors opened, and Shepard and Thane exited. Tali craned her neck to see a human cowering in a corner, his hands held over his head in a protective gesture. Shepard looked surprised to see the other Normandy group there, but just nodded in an acknowledgment of their presence.

"The guy he's after is Joram Talid," she said to Bailey.

The Doctor was frowning as he, too, craned his neck to look in the interrogation room. "What did you _do_?" he demanded of Shepard.

"We just talked to him," Shepard said lightly. Tali barely kept herself from laughing. She'd seen that expression on Shepard's face a hundred times before, when she was doing her best to play the dumb soldier. She had no idea if anyone outside of the Normandy crew was buying it.

"C'mon, let's go to the Presidium," she said, nudging the Doctor's elbow to get him to keep moving. She suspected it wouldn't be a good idea to keep him here for too long, given that his face was darkening again. Tali was sure that Shepard hadn't done any permanent damage. _Reasonably_ sure.

"But-" the Doctor said.

"Shepard's got it under control," Tali said. "Don't you want to see the Presidium?"

The Doctor frowned, again, then nodded. "All right."

* * *

The Presidium was as spectacular as everyone had promised.

It put the Doctor in mind of many of the places he'd visited recently. Too many of them had a sinister undertone. There were _always_ sinister undertones. This place, so he understood from Liara's memories, was no exception - except that it had been unearthed two years ago, when Saren and Sovereign took control of the Citadel in an attempt to let the bulk of the Reapers in.

"You were here," the Doctor said to Tali as those memories filtered in. "You fought the final battle with Shepard."

"An experience I will never forget," Tali said. "Walking on the outside of the Citadel, seeing all the ships firing on Sovereign - the geth trying to stop us, every step of the way. And then getting to the Council chambers, having to fight Saren after Sovereign - brought him back. Took him over. Made him this inorganic monster that just hopped around everywhere. I wasn't as much use as Wrex was, but I did my best, knocked him off balance a few times. It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen." She shook her head.

The Doctor looked around at their surroundings. "They rebuilt this in two years?" he asked.

"Keepers helped," Mordin said. "Facilitated rebuilding. Reapers programmed them to keep Citadel functioning. Their home. Strong incentive to return to normal. "

"And the Council just denied it ever happened," Tali said. "Blamed it all on Saren and refused to accept that the Reapers were real. They're not prepared for the war."

"People never want to believe that there's something dangerous out there," the Doctor said. "Humans are very good at denial."

"Trait not specific to humans," Mordin said, shaking his head. "Councilor Valern won't listen. Dalatrasses won't listen. Salarians prefer to solve problems before they happen. Reapers-" he inhaled sharply- "already a problem. Collectors prove that."

The silence stretched out for a long moment as they all contemplated that, the Doctor leaning on a railing and looking out over the Presidium's ponds. What a contrast. The three of them - and everyone else on the Normandy - were among the few people in the galaxy that knew war was coming. Everyone else was just going about their lives.

Mordin's omni-tool beeped, abruptly, and he lifted it up to examine what it was telling him. His eyes widened in surprise. "Councilor Valern," he said. "Wants to see me. Immediately. Matter of some urgency."

"Well, then," the Doctor said after the silence faded. "I think we'd better go see him."


End file.
